As cybersecurity gets easier, ordinary people are looking for less invasive ways. This makes it difficult to enforce cybersecurity policies and manage risky behavior. It’s not surprising, therefore, that 68 percent of organizations say they are more likely to commit crime or domestic violence than others.
16 cybersecurity risks you don’t know
The human element is an important factor to consider when managing cybersecurity risks. In this post, we’ll look at some examples of cybersecurity risks your employees may face and what you can do to address them.
Ultimately, your goal is to make employees part of the solution, not the problem. The more your employees understand the importance of cybersecurity and know how to identify risks, the safer your organization will be. The easier it is for your employees to follow cybersecurity best practices without compromising their product or business goals, they will follow your instructions.
Risks 1. Click the link Phishing
Phishing remains a popular threat to criminals. In fact, nearly 90 percent of data breaches start with phishing attacks, where criminals try to trick victims into disclosing confidential information.
Today’s workers are at higher risk for fraudulent email, phone, and text message attacks (also known as “SMS phishing” attacks, the name derives from “SMS phishing”). These attacks are dangerous because they come from trusted sources such as colleagues. Cybercriminals are also getting more sophisticated and using the latest tools for attack, including those using intelligence.
When you can reduce phishing attacks through email and spam filtering, messages will inevitably reach their destination. Employees should be trained to detect phishing attempts and monitor suspicious communications and links.
Risks 2. Open to social engineering
Social engineering involves taking advantage of people and encouraging them to do certain things, such as sharing personal information or downloading malware.
Cybercriminals often use social engineering attacks to steal information and money. For example, hackers can use DNS spoofing to send unsuspecting employees to a malicious website that appears to be a legitimate website, in hopes of distributing malware, typing information, or encouraging them to submit payment information.
Unfortunately, social attacks are difficult to prevent. It should educate your employees on cybersecurity risks and best practices and take steps to keep your network and equipment safe.
Risks 3. Password Sharing
According to a recent survey, 34% of employees said they share accounts or passwords with colleagues. While sharing passwords is a simple and easy way to gain access to colleagues and help them complete their tasks, it carries significant risks. Cybersecurity Risk: Sharing Passwords with Colleagues certificate. It can also be more difficult to conduct cybersecurity audits and determine who is responsible for malicious activity (such as changing or deleting information when multiple people use the same password).
To prevent password sharing, please update your password policy to limit this risk. You may also want to add procedures to make it harder for employees to share money. For example, you can enable multiple authentications, limit simultaneous access, and manage account and automatic withdrawal.
Risk 4. Downloading Malicious Applications
Employees are increasingly using applications to eliminate manual tasks and increase productivity. But more often than not, they download and access services without permission, which opens the door to all sorts of risks. For example, an employee may download an application that contains malware or ransomware. They may also use third-party services to store sensitive information, which may cause security or privacy breaches.
You can work around this issue by configuring request control rules with allow and deny lists. Employees can request to secure and download scrutinized digital services. This provides greater transparency and control while helping to reduce shadow IT. Endpoint authorization and management solutions remove local administrator rights from the software and minimize rights.
Privilege Manager endpoint permissions and application management software screenshot
Risk 5. Incorrect Device Management
Most businesses have problems with phones, laptops, flash drives, USB devices, etc. It does not have the bandwidth to monitor and manage company or employee owned devices such as portable equipment. For this reason, employees often use and manage their own tools at work. This has caused network operators to use unsecured devices that can be accessed by malicious actors.
Organizations are required to develop and enforce strict bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies to eliminate hardware-related threats. Companies that do not have the resources to effectively manage the technology should consider hiring a third-party cybersecurity service provider to simplify the process.
Risk 6. Not updating the software
For most users, updating the software is not the most important thing. Most people assume that software updates have been received or that IT is taking care of the process. However, many programs require manual adjustments that can be overlooked or overlooked by staff.
According to the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, software updates are one of the vectors that cause incidents. Cybercriminals look for outdated software they use to gain access to a computer or network. Because employees may not be able to update their software for weeks or months, it’s important that your IT administrator is aware of software updates and ensures that all employees use the most reliable and secure.
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Risks 7. Random password storage
Employees tend to store passwords incorrectly by putting them in places like Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and direct messages. This practice is very dangerous – especially when you consider that there will be hundreds or even thousands of workers doing it. It only takes one event for criminals to access your funds and systems.
Use the hub to reduce risk and manage business user behavior to make life easier for your employees and IT team. Learn why passwords should not be stored in Excel spreadsheets.
Risks 8. Posting Confidential Information on Unsecured Platforms
Most people communicate and share information with convenience rather than cybersecurity in mind. The average employee will not see anything wrong with sharing confidential information securely and without communication. But exchanging confidential information through unsecured platforms makes it possible for criminals to intercept communications and read their content.
All your employees should be aware of the risks of using unsecured communications. Require members to always use private, encrypted communication channels when sharing sensitive material.
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Risks 9. Bypassing security products
Employees do not need to use security products such as malware scanners, biometric readers, or company equipment. Instead, many see product safety as a barrier to productivity and can deter them or prevent them altogether. Disabling security products is not only a waste of money, it also makes it easier for criminals to threaten network protection and gain access to banned apps and devices.
For best results, use monitoring tools and perform routine audits to ensure employees use security equipment and follow company procedures to reduce cybersecurity risk. It can also help determine the consequences for employees who violate or bypass safety rules.
Risk 10. Attachment to unsafe meetings
During the pandemic, people returned to the office and to meetings and events. That means more workers are in cafes, airports, trains and hotels – which terrorists like.
Cyber Security Risks: Public Networks
Hackers often use public networks to inject malware into connected devices, spy on users and gain access and other information. talk to team members.
The best way to protect team members is to use a system such as Remote Access, which provides secure remote connection from any web browser to their computing devices with a dedicated license plate. This eliminates the need for a virtual private network or remote desktop while ensuring that important data is not intercepted by malicious actors.
Risk 11. Allowing family and friends to use work phones
Employees may not see the risk of allowing family and friends to use work phones or laptops for activities such as surfing the Internet or downloading games. The danger is that people, especially children, click links or download content that contains malware or ransomware. It may also disclose or delete sensitive information.
It is important to draw the line between home and family life and to prevent unauthorized access to company property. Enforce a zero tolerance policy for sharing company-owned hardware.
Risk 12. Advertisement
Screens often display sensitive information such as emails, financial information and customer information. Employees should keep this in mind when sharing screens during Zoom or MS Teams calls, office presentations and meetings, or when business is in public places where outsiders will eavesdrop. Going off the screen allows someone to take photos or videos to capture private information, which can lead to data breaches or disclosure of prohibited information.
To prevent this from happening, users should minimize and close windows when not using the app. In an online group search, they simply select the window with the information they want to view. They also need to be careful when working in public places.
Risks 13. Allowing unauthorized access
Cybercriminals sometimes try to impersonate an employee and request access to protected information, databases, and applications. In most cases staff will get quick access without censoring people. Threatening actors can download or delete files when they enter restricted areas. They can also use this information to harm the organization.
Unfortunately, most businesses wait until it’s too late.
Employees should avoid accessing unknown users. Instead, they should be sent to the department or project manager with approval access. This takes more time, but prevents crime.
Risks 14. A laptop left unattended
Most people wouldn’t consider leaving their laptop in a public place—even the “good” place at work—for a cup of coffee or to use the bathroom. But leaving it for a few minutes can lead to theft. It can also give bad actors (possibly insiders) ample time to access and steal personal information, especially if the account is public and valid.
Educate workers about the dangers of leaving laptops and other electronic devices unattended. Effortlessly locking or removing devices can reduce theft and help prevent data breaches.
Risks 15. Improper use of sensitive information
Employees are often careless when handling sensitive information, such as customer information. For example, people may trash important documents at night, leave something at the printer, or forget something at their desk.
Although this does not seem like a cyber security risk, data breaches can occur over data. Failure to properly handle or destroy data can put the entire organization at risk of a security breach.
Cyber one All partners (remote and local) must have access to shredders, secure recycling services and recordable records.
Risks 16. Access to company information after leaving the company
Administrators do not need to carefully manage account access. Employees, contractors, and vendors often maintain accounts in the cloud after they no longer work with the company. This allows employees to continue monitoring activities and access information they shouldn’t. There may be inconsistencies between hiding and disclosing information.
Adopt minimum standards that allow access only when needed, and create solutions to monitor and restrict access to different accounts and services.
Network Security and Productivity:
The Right Thing Measuring security and productivity can be a daunting task for IT administrators and security teams. The trick is to reduce threats while ensuring employees have access to the systems and tools they need, when they need it.