October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, an annual event promoting safe online behavior and encouraging participation in the fight against cybercrime.
With the growth of online threats and increased digitization of personal and professional lives, maintaining safe online behavior is essential for halting cyberattacks.
Building a cybersecurity culture that permeates every layer of the organization is crucial to combat cyber threats and ensure protection.
Cyber threats have brought security awareness to the forefront. Mimecast’s State of Email Security 2023 report shows that two-thirds of South African respondents find cyberattacks increasingly sophisticated. Ransomware attacks affected 52%, while 92% were targeted by email-based phishing attacks.
In response, organizations implement layered security strategies, including robust cybersecurity awareness training. However, despite training, 80% of respondents believe their company is at risk due to inadvertent leaks by careless employees.
Regular training is essential to remind employees of safety best practices and create a cyber-aware culture. Measurement of training effectiveness is crucial as it ensures behavior change and supports business goals.
A cybersecurity culture includes basics like healthy password hygiene, fighting phishing, providing collaboration tool security training, and focusing on rewarding safe online behavior, not tricking or punishing employees.
By: Brian Pinnock, Vice President Sales Engineering at Mimecast