A considerable number of security breaches related to businesses can be traced back to insiders. Many companies, unfortunately, still don’t see these insider threats. Employees are on the forefront of ensuring security of IT resources and assets, and they need to be in sync with the best practices and must understand the risk of hack, concerns, and threats. In this post, we are sharing some of the guidelines that must be set for employees.
- Change all default passwords. All default usernames and passwords must be changed immediately after the product is deployed. Default details are usually super easy to crack and often become a source of authorized entry.
- Strong passwords. Passwords need to be long, strong, and unique. Ask employees to create passwords that are at least 12 characters long without any personal information. If your employees don’t know how to set passwords like a pro, offer them training.
- Recommend a password manager. For an employee who is using dozens of devices and accounts on a regular basis, remembering these complex passwords may not be humanly possible. For that, recommend them a reliable and known password management tool.
- Restrict access. Make sure that only those who need access to a file, data resource, or any IT asset, have the rights. A good identity and access management suite can be really handy in managing the access rights that employees have.
- Share details of social engineering attacks. Social engineering covers all sorts of ways in which hackers try and steal information from employees. Your employees need to know about common phishing and malware scams too.
- Use multifactor authentication. It is always wise to use a second or third layer of protection beyond the standard password. For instance, a security question, something like a one time password or pain can secure accounts and devices further.
- Patch everything. Your employees are eventually using devices, resources and all programs, and they must ensure that everything is patched to the latest version. You can expect to fix all existing vulnerabilities within the firmware, software, and operating systems.
Finally, allow your employees to share the details that they need. The idea is to make them aware of their role in ensuring cybersecurity, but at the same time, also responsible for their actions. We also suggest that you check all relevant details before hiring new employees and adjust rights of each employee as and when their roles and work change within the organization.
