Establishing a Company Culture of Cybersecurity Awareness

Over the past few decades, the Internet has changed how businesses operate. The digital world comprises a central part of business operations, from storing large amounts of information online to depending upon internet connections to facilitate communication.

Unfortunately, that means the risks associated with cyber breaches and attacks have also increased. These criminals target everything from banking accounts to private and sensitive employee or customer information. To protect their operations, businesses need to focus on nurturing a cybersecurity culture.

Cybersecurity cannot exist in a silo, as only a facet of the IT department. It must affect everyone in the organization to improve the protection of the company and all the information contained within its systems. Here is what we mean when we discuss a ‘cybersecurity culture’ and how you can build one in your organization.

The Importance of Cybersecurity Awareness in Business

Cybersecurity culture building comes from recognizing the threat that cyberattacks hold for businesses. On average, around the world, the cost of a data breach reached an incredible $4.45 million in 2023, making it extremely costly for businesses to navigate these problems. This amount also represents a 15% increase over the past three years, indicating that the threat of cyberattacks only gets worse as time goes by. Investing in effective security upfront is the optimal way to avoid this type of unexpected cost.

In the face of cyber threats, cybersecurity should be a top priority for your organization. Every employee, from top to bottom, must follow best practices to avoid attacks and minimize damage in case of a breach.

How to Build a Culture of Cybersecurity

Establishing a culture of cybersecurity requires integrating various components to make it a natural part of how your employees and business leaders operate. 

To ensure that your entire organization adopts these best practices, getting your leaders and executives on board will help to solidify its importance in everyone else’s mind. People often follow what the leaders do, so when they set an example, others will follow suit. As it becomes more common, business cybersecurity solutions evolve into part of daily business operations.

One of the most essential features of your cybersecurity awareness strategy will be employee training. As many as 95% of breaches occur because of human error. Training helps you reduce the risk and keep your organization more secure. Therefore, cybersecurity training must be your first step as you build awareness throughout your company.

Here are 5 key steps that will help you make cybersecurity an organization-wide initiative:

1. Evaluate your current state of cybersecurity. First, do cybersecurity audits and evaluations so you can better understand how robust your protection is. You can identify weak spots and zero in on potential vulnerabilities you want employees to be vigilant about. This will inform how you develop your implementation strategy.
2. Determine the type of training needed. Based on your cybersecurity needs, you can work with a partner to determine the types of cybersecurity training you want to implement for your employees. Make sure this plan includes special training for business leaders that emphasizes their role in building a cybersecurity-conscious organization.
3. Provide your employees with ongoing, regular training that incorporates information about the latest threats. This will keep everyone fresh on cybersecurity best practices and ensure everyone knows how to counter any emerging threats they might experience.
4. Use drills and tests to see how well people abide by their cybersecurity best practices. Drills that test what people do when they perceive a cyberattack can help you see how well people understand their training and implement the procedures they learned. You can find potential gaps in their understanding so you know what material needs to be reviewed as well.
5. Regularly evaluate the training of people at all levels of the company. Reviewing how well people follow what they learned in training and their ability to detect drills and potential attacks can give you a better idea of how widespread the cybersecurity culture is now at the organization. This evaluation will help you continue to grow as a cybersecurity-conscious company.

Building Your Cybersecurity Culture

Building a strong cybersecurity culture can protect your organization and help keep out bad actors interested in gaining access to your sensitive company data. Given the expense associated with cyber breaches and the prevalent role of human error in allowing these breaches to occur, employee training and regular follow-up need to play a central role in building a company culture that values cybersecurity.

The Orsus Group offers comprehensive HR consulting that keeps your business protected, your information safe, and your policies and training in alignment with your security and privacy goals. Connect now to learn how we can support your business goals.