The Right Practices Will Get Employees Thinking About Their Own Security

People look at their work differently, just as they view their lives differently. The many different perspectives of your staff brings a bit of variance of how they view data security. This isn’t so good for your business as you need to trust them to prioritize the security of your data and infrastructure. Let’s take a look at some of the best practices that you should be training your staff in, which will allow them to protect your data better, and theirs. 

Employee Security Habits Can Affect Your Business

Most people are a little more carefree about their own personal data security than they are when operating at your business. Unfortunately, this lack of conscientiousness can sometimes carry over, inadvertently putting your business at risk. This is why, when training your personnel on the best practices of data security, you will want to develop a program that is effective, but also simple. People understand simple, and the simpler an instruction is, the more apt they are to follow it to the letter. 

And you will want them following security platforms to the letter. 

So while it is your responsibility to ensure that all of the hardware and software is patched and up-to-date, all the systems that require authentication are set up properly, and that your procedures and expectations are clearly documented, it’s ultimately on your workers to come through for you. 

The problems are only exacerbated as people work from home. Remote workers tend to use their own machines, which means that they will typically revert to their own practices when at home. This can be bad for your business, so to ensure they are still functioning in a way that will protect your business, you will want to continue to check in on them--or even test them--to make sure they aren’t operating outside the protocols you’ve put in place for your business’ resources and data. 

Here are Some Best Practices That You Should Prioritize

We thought we would put together a list that can help you identify the things you should prioritize when training your employees about data security.

Password Hygiene

• Don’t reuse passwords
• Update passwords somewhat regularly
• Use an approved password manager to help simplify this compliance
• Supplement your passwords with some form of 2FA/MFA

Precautionary Measures

• Avoid any publicly accessible wireless networks
• Think before you click when browsing the Internet or checking emails
• Use a Virtual Private Network (or VPN) to securely connect to your infrastructure
• Always keep an up-to-date antivirus and firewall installed
• Regularly update your software

Browsing Practices

• Avoid insecure websites (those beginning with “http” instead of “https”)
• Keep personally identifiable information (PII) private
• Understand what a phishing attack is, and how to spot them
• Keep work devices dedicated to work purposes

To keep your resources and data safe, it’s going to have to be a team effort. If you would like to talk to one of our IT professionals about getting an individual data security strategy in place in your business, call us today at (509) 534-1530.