For a company to protect itself against cyber attacks, it must have a robust security policy, investments in technological resources and specialized manpower, and ensure that employees are trained in security awareness. 

But for this whole protection structure to happen, the support of all employees is fundamental. After all, they are the ones who deal with the processes on a daily basis, manage information and have access to passwords and confidential data.  

It is estimated that even with the relevance that information security has gained in recent years, 90% of employees are still the cause of cybersecurity risks for companies.
According to the Ponemon Institute's Global Security Study, 63% of small and medium-sized businesses experienced some sort of data leakage incident in 2019.  

The damage caused to businesses by data breaches, meanwhile, in the same year reached $1.41 million, according to an IT Security Economics Survey.  

The National Cyber Security Alliance's 2019 survey showed that cyber attacks can cause even worse damage: 25% of small businesses have declared bankruptcy after hacker attacks.  

With all this data, there is no doubt that all employees need to be aware of their role for rapid incident response action.  

Next, we'll cover what employees need to know to support company protection initiatives.  

Cyber protection requires corporate change 

The high number of cyber attacks and their damage to organizations prove the urgency for companies to invest in employee training and changes in the cybersecurity culture.  

To prevent this type of incident from happening, companies must create security policies and training to make employees aware of the best practices for data protection and use, as well as analyze the implementation of new solutions and strategies to strengthen digital security processes.   

In addition, employees must also:  

Understand the importance of data security 

Employees need to understand the risks and consequences of data misuse and how an attack or data theft can negatively impact the entire company.
A company's information security posture is important for all employees, from the CEO to the intern. Everyone has access to the same networks and systems and is therefore subject to the same risks. 

In the case of C-level executives, the risks are even greater, since they have access to sensitive data.  

By understanding the importance of data security, employees can work together to implement effective defense measures, such as using security technology solutions that analyze, monitor, and help correct system failures, keeping the system running smoothly and uninterrupted.  

Know the incident response plan

Knowing the entire incident response process, how it works, and the expected results is also key.  

It is important that employees understand the six major steps of the plan, which involves:  

Preparation 

The first step of the plan is to ground it with everyone's roles and responsibilities well detailed.  

In this phase, simulated intrusions and data breaches are performed to ensure that everyone is playing their part in the process.  

Threat Identification 

The second step of the process defines whether the company has actually been breached. Some questions must be asked to make sure that an attack has taken place, what its origin was, when it occurred, who detected it, among other specific questions. 

The answers to these questions will help define the best response to the incident and prevent it from happening again.   

Restraining the Violation 

After identifying an attack, it is important to contain it so that it does not spread and cause further damage to the system.  

In this step, affected devices should be disconnected from the Internet, user and administrative access credentials should be changed, and access protocols should be reviewed.  

A backup system can be a great ally to restore operations and prevent further damage to the business.  

Eradication 

After the incident has been contained, the breach must be eliminated. In this way, all systems must be patched and updates must be thoroughly applied to prevent threats from still existing on the systems.  

System recovery 

The penultimate phase of the incident response plan must restore all affected systems and devices so that normalcy can be restored and business can continue as usual.  

Incident Analysis 

Finally, the incident response plan also requires an evaluation of the company's posture toward the breach so that processes can be improved.  

The last step assesses what went right or possible flaws in the process and how the team members acted in the face of the incident.
 

Be aware of information security policies
 

Creating security policies also plays a key role for organizations to protect their digital information. They should instruct employees with:  

• Guidelines for process definitions, such as: backup, passwords, and controls; 
• What permissions and prohibitions users must follow;  
• What are each employee's responsibilities regarding data protection;  
• Plans for risk mitigation and containment;  

 
For security policies to be implemented correctly, it is important that all employees are aware of how they can contribute to the entire organization.  

Check out the e-book "Protecting Digital Information", produced by ISH, and also learn how to make a checklist for your company's cyber protection.  

 
Cyber security should be a concern for all employees

Employees need to be aware of the threats facing organizations in general. According to the Global Incident Response Threat Report survey, cyber attacks are a top concern for IT professionals. Forty percent of them say that threats pose a risk to business continuity. 

In our "EverydayCybersecurity Handbook" we list what steps to take for an effective security posture.  

These are actions that act mainly on exposure control, authentication and access practices, use of mobile devices, and internal company policies that must be considered when the subject is cybersecurity. 

It is critical that all employees are aware of their company's information security posture and what they can do to support the incident response team. 

By having a better understanding of the incident response process, all employees can help ensure that company data is protected and, should an incident happen, that critical systems are back up and running as quickly as possible.  

ISH can help your company with the best cybersecurity solutions. Contact us now and learn more about how to prevent cyber attacks.