Hacking is a serious threat that affects companies of all sizes. Even firms like Facebook, British Airways, Uber, and Google have taken the brunt of hackers. The most common ways that unethical hackers use to hack a firm are malware attacks and phishing attacks. And, these threats are becoming more dangerous since unethical hackers keep coming up with stronger and more advanced variations of the existing malware types. The most recent example is Ransomware – a new variation of malware that encrypts the data of a company and demands a ransom in return of decrypting it. Clearly, something is missing when it comes to safeguarding the web and the first obvious reason is unaware employees.

Unaware employees are an imminent threat since they have no idea about how they can be the source for allowing malware within the company. Even worse, they are unaware of what to do in order to reduce such risks. Therefore, employees should be the first milestone that employers should focus on.

• Encourage employees to not use tools outside the ones within the online security perimeter as laid by the company. Software secured by the company’s cyber team is protected by strong passwords, firewalls, and antivirus. When employees use an unsecured app, hackers get a window to launch malware attacks.
• Educate employees about the role of email handling in a security breach. Emails from unauthorized sources should be reported. Increase awareness that employees should not explore such emails on their own. Such emails can contain potentially dangerous links and advanced malware types.
• Teach employees how to use genuine websites to check suspicious-looking URLs. Hackers have become so advanced that they can ease malware within an authentic-looking link too. For example – ‘we can be replaced with the same word in Latin that looks similar but is entirely different. These differences cannot be detected by eyes. So, using URL checking websites is the best way.
• Encourage employees to not use the company-provided system for personal use. It increases the chances of malware attacks.
• Lastly, arrange for seminars that can teach employees about the ideal response when the company faces an actual cyberattack. Even if a company is using fire breaks, employees on all networks need to disengage whether or not their network is hacked. Hackers can send the same phishing email to all employees. Any single system can allow hacking of the entire network.

On a parting note, awareness is one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of a data security breach at the workplace. Thus, take enough precautions when it comes to safeguarding a company from hackers.