4 Employee Cyberthreat Traits 

Comprehending your employees’ strengths and weaknesses allows you to strengthen your team by targeting the areas they need improvement. Identifying these areas will allow you to know where further training is needed, such as cybersecurity awareness. 

Some employees are more likely to fall victim to cyberattacks. This is why cybersecurity awareness training is crucial for all members of a team working online. For example, without the proper education on identifying phishing attempts, a person may be more inclined to open a compromising email they don’t recognize. On the other hand, an employee demonstrating good password hygiene such as creating strong passwords, recording credentials in secure places, cycling out old passwords, and using unique passwords for each account shows awareness and motivation to keeping their accounts safe. 

Empowering your employees with the most up-to-date cybersecurity training and best practices sets you up to form a stronger and vigilant defense against attackers. Attackers often find vulnerabilities hiding within companies that they can easily exploit. Businesses of all sizes are being targeted each day.

With this post, our goal is to point out employee traits that may cause higher risk when it comes to security online. We want to help you identify those traits in your team so you can better train and serve those individuals on how to protect sensitive information and steer clear of online dangers.

Traits to watch out for

Below, we have listed the four of the most common character traits to look for.

The skeptic
Cybercriminals are always lurking behind the scenes and are very good at hiding from view. For some, it can be easy to get too comfortable and feel confident that they’ll never fall victim to an attack, simply because it hasn’t happened yet. It is this type of thinking and behavior that attackers look for, capitalizing on the person who doesn’t understand the importance of regularly changing passwords and using two-factor authentication. 

The procrastinator
The procrastinator is fully aware of the dangers lurking out there and acknowledges their role in stopping hackers from gaining access into their organization’s systems. However, this person will prioritize other jobs first, leaving that security patch on hold. They will also ignore alerts on their software and apps until the following day, despite knowing without the appropriate action things could take a turn of the worst.

The naïve
Those who are not experienced in cybersecurity might not see the warning signs that would standout to someone else who is. These people may be too trusting and exhibit dangerous behaviors unknowingly such as, leaving their computer unlocked when stepping away from their desk, accessing unsecured Wi-Fi in public areas, and writing credentials on paper notes. 
Unfortunately, there is a risk the threat can be an internal one. Even when this type of employee feels they can trust those around them, in reality, they may not.

The employee with good intentions
This employee is cautious and well informed of the latest threats, they take the time to create complex passwords that are routinely updated. This employee is also cautious of emails containing links or attachments. However, even the most diligent worker with good intentions can unknowingly get attacked by a cybercriminal. Everyday cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and improving they ways they operate. Therefore, is it necessary to provide your team members with the most recent training for cybersecurity awareness.

Conclusion

The success and livelihood of any company depends on its employees. Having a well-functioning team full of quality employees encourages growth and will drive the business forward. 

Each employee has their own set of skills, traits, and motivations they bring to the table as individuals. It is up to the business owner to identify these traits in each person to help them succeed within the company. This includes providing regularly scheduled security awareness trainings for the entire team.

Don't worry if you don't know where to begin. The experience and expertise of a specialized IT service provider, like us, may be just what you need. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation to see how easy we can make security awareness training.

https://www.rccbusinessit.com/services/mssp-managed-security-services