Workplace Cybersecurity: How to ensure all employees take responsibility for Cyber Security in the workplace

| Yulia Volyntseva Last updated 31 Jul, 2022

If your business stores confidential or personally identifiable data, a cyber attack from either external or internal elements, could be potentially devastating for your business, making it vital for organizations actively promote a cybersecurity-focused workplace culture.

Data is everywhere, in many formats, and is a crucial component of modern organizations. For many organizations, this data is often not owned by them but belongs to third parties (such as customers, business partners, and suppliers). The increasing frequency of cyber threats exposes organizations to constant reputational and financial risk.

Therefore, organizations have cybersecurity as a core mandate in the workplace. However, this battle against cyberthreats is not fought in the boardrooms. Instead, businesses must collaborate with every organizational role, function, and department to combat these cyber threats.

On this page:

Establishing an effective Workplace Cybersecurity Culture
Constructing a culture of cybersecurity in the workplace
Delivering cultural change in four steps
Plan ahead – Focus on awareness and beyond
Workplace Cybersecurity is Everyone’s Responsibility

Establishing an effective Workplace Cybersecurity Culture

Many employees may believe that cybersecurity is the responsibility of the security department. A sustainable security culture necessitates that all employees are invested in promoting and adhering to workplace cybersecurity best practices.

Every employee, including the C-Suite, senior leadership, middle management, and frontline, can degrade or strengthen the security posture. Everyone in the office needs to be aware of security culture and cybersecurity.

A cybersecurity workplace culture is one in which security is ingrained in all parts of the work environment. It is a component of planning and thinking. It is a component of the application, system, and process and hence an essential component of how work is accomplished.

Management and leadership must support cybersecurity investments and model security behaviors based on the guidelines shared throughout the organization. Leadership is key to creating a culture of Cybersecurity in the workplace. They are also vital in driving the implementation of cybersecurity practices at work.

You may attain this “all in” approach by implementing high-level security into your vision and goal. People look to these things to determine where their attention should be directed. Update your concept or business goal to state unequivocally that security is non-negotiable. From the highest levels, emphasize the necessity of security. This includes those with security titles (CISO, CSO) and other C-level executives down to individual managers.

Leadership and management should make Cybersecurity a priority and spread the message. Training for leadership and management on cybersecurity components and training for middle managers and frontline personnel on Cybersecurity improves awareness and mitigates risks. Cybersecurity knowledge and best practices can also be transferred to the workplace, which helps increase awareness and reduce cyber risk.

Constructing a culture of cybersecurity in the workplace

Although it is difficult, creating a Cybersecurity-focused culture in your workplace is possible. Cyber threats and cyber risks are a constant threat to every workplace. A positive attitude can drive the right behaviors at all levels of an organization.

Attitude toward Cybersecurity includes how management implements Cybersecurity and ensures communication plans and education are in place. All of these elements contribute to building a safe and secure workplace culture.

As a whole, the attitude of an organization towards Cybersecurity plays a significant role in how employees integrate it into their work lives. If the C-Suite, senior leaders, and management do not support the mission, it is unrealistic to expect the frontline staff to be motivated about Cybersecurity.

Therefore, all levels of management and organizational leadership must adopt a positive attitude toward cybersecurity awareness and encourage employees to be enthusiastic about creating a culture of Cybersecurity. This increases employee awareness and, therefore, their ability to minimize cyber risk.

More mature organizations reinforce cybersecurity culture at three levels:

Leadership-level: Leaders prioritize cybersecurity, making it apparent to everyone in the organization that it is an integral component of corporate principles, just as the CEO does in all-company meetings. While the CIO or CISO is in charge of cybersecurity strategy and efforts, non-cyber executives, such as the board of directors, are visibly connected with the purpose and demonstrate appropriate behaviors.[bs-white-space

Group-level: Cybersecurity issues are starting to permeate employee interactions and seep into how teams collaborate. Watercooler talks or Slack and Zoom meetings now include cybersecurity-related subjects, and non-technical business groups seek advice on how to be safer. The group-level activities demonstrate that cybersecurity is essential to the team, which leads to certain behaviors.[bs-white-space

Individual-level: Employees generally understand the types of threats and feel empowered to take action if they encounter anything questionable. Furthermore, they know exactly what to do in the event of an occurrence, such as reporting a phishing email incident or flagging a suspicious person going out the door with a laptop.

Delivering cultural change in four steps

Technology and training alone are insufficient to protect businesses from today’s cyber-attacks. It’s not simply about providing them with a playbook for avoiding phishing emails or password management training. Instead, it instills safety into the organizational fabric so that everyone is continually reminded of their role and responsibility in keeping the organization safe.

Following management’s implementation of a cyber-security-conscious culture, the next stage is to raise staff awareness and training through various programs. IT does an excellent job of safeguarding enterprises.

The ones that let them down are not doing their jobs well. Employee education and training are critical. Training will assist you in understanding the hazards and avoiding them. Cybercriminals have an unfair advantage over employees, who are frequently caught off guard and ignorant.

So, what can be done to create organizational transformation and cultivate a cybersecurity culture that engages people at all levels?

Assign ownership: Make it someone’s responsibility to be the “culture owner.” This isn’t always the CIO or CISO, but a non-technical executive responsible for changing behavior and driving values, attitudes, and beliefs. One culture owner designed employee-friendly initiatives to leverage popular movie titles to convey crucial cybersecurity information.

Use non-technical terminology: It is critical to communicate in ways that workers understand if you want to create change. A simple adjustment in the terminology used in communications can make a significant difference in developing a cybersecurity culture.

Messaging is also essential for increasing engagement. To interact with employees on numerous fronts, use multi-channel communications campaigns that include films, digital displays, blogs, alerts, emails, postcards, events, and training.

Include cybersecurity in employee evaluations: Employees formally know what is expected of them when cyber secure actions are evaluated. When combined with rewards and penalties, this gives firms the best opportunity to drive behavior and culture change.

Conduct tabletop exercises & fire drills: Organizations should aim to replicate what would happen in the event of an actual breach, either through scenario preparation or tabletop exercises. You don’t want to be in the midst of a cyberattack the first time you think about it – you need to be ready.

Plan ahead – Focus on awareness and beyond

Managers and senior staff must plan for a cyberattack. If they are routinely informed, employees are more likely to adopt a cyber incident response strategy. All employees must access a communication plan that meets legal standards, industry best practices, regulatory considerations, and external commitments.

The plan should be created for low-tech workers. Basic information should be included, such as how to encrypt and password-protect shared folders. This approach should examine programs that store sensitive data, such as CRMs.

Staff should be educated to access cloud platforms with strong passphrases and multi-factor authentication. Access must be limited to those who need it. If you know how to secure your data, you can survive an attack without losing it.

While no plan can guarantee 100% effectiveness against human-based activities, lowering risks and managing accidents is achievable. Internal awareness initiatives can assist develop a cyber-secure culture at work. Posters, reminders, and newsletters increase talk about security.

Multilayered workplace security is vital. Employees must be able to defend themselves at work. You, the target, don’t know cybersecurity rules or that hackers are playing. Phishing exploits unknowing, trusting victims to click on fraudulent links and open harmful attachments.

Workplace Cybersecurity is Everyone’s Responsibility

Creating a secure environment requires ongoing efforts and focus on Cybersecurity in the workplace. All employees are responsible for Cybersecurity.

Regardless of the method, you select to adopt cybersecurity policies in your workplace. Your responsibility is to maintain employee engagement. Make the process enjoyable, relatable, and pertinent.

Everyone in the business must use information systems with caution. Additionally, they should seek counsel from qualified persons. They must comprehend the cybersecurity threats in their job, undergo training, and grasp how to manage, store, transmit, and dispose of information in the workplace.

Priority number one must protect essential assets such as computers, mobile devices, and non-electronic data. Additionally, it is crucial to adhere to workplace security procedures. Every employee may help to improve cybersecurity.