One eye open.

Let’s start off on the right foot

“To be afraid is a sign of common sense.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The skinny

It requires an eagle eye and a vigilant spirit to stave off cybercriminals.

♥

Spooky season.

It’s officially October! It is also, fittingly, Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Looming around every virtual corner, cybercrime is getting more sophisticated by the day. While rising hybrid work arrangements are praised for their impact on work-life balance, cloud collaboration does present some challenges.

Intruder.

You might not suffer the Chucky treatment, but data breaches are devastating to organizations. In addition to risking their reputation, companies may lose clients or face costly fines.

An arm and a leg.

In the U.S., security breaches cost double the global average at $9.4 million, depending on how quickly the breach can be contained. In the best of cases, a cyber-attack takes 200 days to resolve.

Overkill.

Sorry folks, more isn’t better. Having too many tools can increase the chances technologies will conflict, decreasing the likelihood of detecting and responding to an attack. While technology can certainly ward off a variety of threats, your people are the best defense.

One eye open.

Employees must be on alert for phishing schemes or the latest scam to steal account credentials. It may seem like common sense to keep passwords fresh, but training on both the how and why behind cybersecurity ensures information doesn’t fall on deaf ears.

At the heart of it.

The irony is… cybersecurity is more of a culture and people issue than you might initially think. Executive buy-in allows IT to collaborate with leaders in every department to prepare an incident response plan.

Hand in hand.

In 2022, HR and IT should be best friends. Technologies that keep information safe are equally necessary to the modern tools that help us create and collaborate. Investing in a solid relationship with IT means streamlining processes while improving the employee experience.

Date with Data: 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error.

Further Reading: When disaster hits, what is HR’s role in avoiding ‘confusion and chaos’?

For You: How to overcome imposter syndrome