Cybercriminals are coming after your employees — likely every day — to try and trick them into giving up access to your company’s systems, information or payment systems. Since all of your employees are under attack, you need great cybersecurity communications to help them build up a robust defense for your company.
Talk through the business case
Experts estimate that cybercrime will cost the world $10.5 trillion annually this year, and much of that cost comes directly from businesses. And in 2024, the average cost of a data breach in the US was $9.36 million. These facts alone should move cybersecurity to the top of your priority list.
With strong cybersecurity communications, you can show employees how one small mistake on their part could lead to a multi-million dollar hit to the company, and help them understand the actions they can take to prevent that.
Show them their personal responsibility
The most important aspect of your cybersecurity communications is their ability to show employees the role they play. While they may not be cybersecurity experts, they all represent gateways into the systems you use to do business. Once cybercriminals are able to infiltrate a system through a single user, it’s much easier to get what they want.
Build a culture of cybersecurity. Help them understand that their everyday actions, or inactions, can have massive ramifications for your business with cybersecurity communications. Then show them how they can protect themselves and the company.
Prove that it’s not all easy or intuitive
Early 2000s comedians had a field day with email scams that were obvious fakes, but today’s scams can be much more sophisticated. Cyber attackers can convincingly spoof email addresses, social media accounts and even voices over the phone.And that’s even more true in a hybrid or remote work environment. If your employees are only looking out for obvious fakes, they’re susceptible to other kinds of attacks.
Oneway many industry leaders handle this is to have phishing simulations for employees — send suspicious emails or other simulated threats to employees, and if they don’t take the right action, assign them additional cybersecurity training. But you can also increase cybersecurity communications for everyone, even those who haven’t fallen for a simulated attack, so they can better understand the different kinds of threats.
It’s a mindset, not just a set of actions
One of the biggest challenges companies are facing today is the evolving nature of cyber threats. The same actions you took 20 years ago to stay cyber safe won’t always save you today. Cyber criminals are using AI to execute attacks faster and more often, with more believable tricks like AI-generated voices and realistic-looking videos.
Unfortunately, that means there’s no rule of thumb employees can use to avoid every single attack. Instead, it’s important to use cybersecurity communications to help them think differently. Help your employees develop a healthy suspicion for anything that could give someone access to their systems, payment information or personal information that could be used to make another attack seem more legitimate.
Cybersecurity is a real threat, and it’s not going away any time soon, so it’s important to communicate with your employees about the importance and best preventative measures.
Want your employees to take cybersecurity seriously? Tribe can help.
