How can companies educate and empower their employees to practice good cyber hygiene and understand their role in cloud security? Give one tip/strategy.

Question

In the digital age, fostering a culture of strong cyber hygiene is critical for protecting company assets in the cloud. We've gathered insights from cybersecurity experts and top executives, including a Principal DevSecOps Engineer and a CEO, to bring you thirteen strategies for empowering employees. From conducting phishing-test attacks to implementing role-based training modules, discover how to make your team your strongest defense against cyber threats.

Yves Soete · Answer

In my experience, one of the most important tools in educating employees is to conduct a phishing-test attack without letting the employees know that it is happening. After you gather the results of how many people clicked on it, you provide specific training on how to prevent it. Then, re-run the phishing-test attack and improve the numbers in combination with recurrent training—great for a KPI, too. :-)

Mike Ouwerkerk · Answer

The key trick here is to ensure employees actually care about cyber hygiene, and unfortunately, a lot of the time, awareness initiatives miss the mark because they focus on work impact rather than personal impact.For me, when I train, I mostly talk about how someone personally can be impacted by a cybercriminal, and then I relate that to simple examples and rules to stay safe. If people understand that there is a real threat to their own money and confidential information, they are far more likely to take notice, learn, and change behaviors.Of course, everything they learn totally relates to the work environment, so it's a win-win.

Lisa Mcstay · Answer

The strategy I would tell any business looking to empower and educate their employees to practice good cyber hygiene and understand their role in cloud security would be to integrate your cybersecurity system with a BCMS system. This will directly embed cybersecurity awareness into the tools your employees use, which turns good cyber hygiene into a regular part of their workflow. Not only does it force a constant reminder to maintain good cyber hygiene, but it also promotes education on the subject.The actionable tip I would tell any business looking to educate and empower their employees about good cyber hygiene and their role would be to use gamification techniques. This turns learning the (usually boring and technical subject) into a much more fun environment. In my experience with teaching employees how to practice good cyber hygiene and their role in cloud security, this game-like, fun learning approach has worked really well for promoting positive learning opinions on the subject.

Michael Gargiulo · Answer

Companies can educate and empower their employees to practice good cyber hygiene and understand their role in cloud security through various strategies. One effective tip is to encourage the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN creates a secure, encrypted connection between the employee's device and the company's network, ensuring that their internet traffic is protected from potential hackers or eavesdroppers. By using a VPN, employees can securely access company resources and data when working remotely or using public Wi-Fi networks. This not only helps to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information but also raises awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and the role each employee plays in maintaining a secure cloud environment.

James Wilson · Answer

Your people are your biggest vulnerability. It is not easy for people to maintain a constant state of heightened awareness for anything, especially something like cybersecurity. Just focusing on avoiding clicking on links in questionable emails is hard because the vast majority of emails that someone will see in a month will be legitimate. We have found that training your employees and connecting rewards to frequent phishing-test emails can help significantly. Frequent trainings and tests are best for keeping cybersecurity top-of-mind for day-to-day employees.

Richard Ford · Answer

Implement mandatory, gamified cyber-awareness training programs. Instead of dry, lecture-style seminars that employees will likely tune out, create interactive, scenario-based training modules gamified with elements like scoring, badges, and leaderboards.These modules should immerse employees in real-world cyber threat simulations tailored to your company's systems and cloud environment. For example, they could face phishing email exercises where they need to identify the telltale signs, or investigate a breach scenario and determine the policy violations that enabled it.Not only does the gamification make the training far more engaging and memorable, but it also gives employees practical experience in spotting and responding to threats. They get to make mistakes risk-free and learn the correct cyber hygiene practices.Competitions with rewards for top scorers provide added incentives and allow you to identify your 'cyber ambassador' employees to further empower them as leaders advocating cybersecurity best practices.The key is making cybersecurity training an ongoing endeavor rather than a one-and-done checklist item. Continuously update and rotate training scenarios to address evolving threat landscapes and cloud technologies.This hands-on, gamified approach drives home the importance of cyber hygiene in an immersive way. Employees don't just understand cybersecurity policies in theory—they experience how vital their individual roles and diligence are to protecting the company's cloud data and infrastructure.

Michaella Masters · Answer

While clear policies and regulations are essential, fostering a culture of cyber hygiene requires a more engaging approach. At Codific, we are a cybersecurity SaaS provider specializing in AppSec, HR-Tech, and Ed/Med-Tech. We recognize the critical importance of robust cyber practices. We have a team of software engineers who follow strict cyber practices when creating these solutions. In addition to this, we also hold interactive training using real-world scenarios, testing our products through penetration tests, gamified learning, and more. This allows our engineers to actively practice and test their skills in a safe environment and learn from their mistakes. Extending this commitment beyond engineering, a portion of our sales and marketing team's workload is dedicated to ongoing learning. We participate in monthly training sessions focusing on current cybersecurity breaches, news, and best practices. This equips all employees to become proactive participants in protecting sensitive data.

David Janovic · Answer

From my journey in building RJ Living into a successful online brand, one critical area we've focused on is the importance of cyber hygiene and cloud security. Given the visual nature of our business and the frequent collaborations with partners, we've had to ensure that our online ecosystem remains secure.A key strategy we employ to educate and empower our employees in practicing good cyber hygiene is the rule of “check before sharing” online folders, documents, and links. Our rule is straightforward: unless you're expecting someone to ask for access, don't grant it, even if you recognize the company name. This policy extends to checking before granting access via private email addresses. If a partner or collaborator needs access, it should come through their official work email, and if it doesn't for whatever reason, we verify the request's authenticity before granting access.

Nicolas Montauban · Answer

In my experience as a Product Manager, especially navigating the complexities of tech development and market strategies, I've learned the critical importance of fostering an environment where cyber hygiene is not just encouraged but ingrained in the corporate culture. One effective strategy that companies can adopt is to integrate regular, interactive training sessions that simulate real-world cyber threats. This hands-on approach demystifies the often abstract concept of cloud security, making it more accessible and understandable to employees across all departments. By engaging in simulations, employees can see firsthand the potential consequences of poor cyber practices and learn practical steps to protect both their personal and company data. This method also highlights the direct impact of their actions on the organization's overall security posture, thereby empowering them with the knowledge and responsibility to act as the first line of defense against cyber threats. Such an approach not only educates but also fosters a culture of security awareness and vigilance, which is paramount in today’s digital age.

Craig Bird · Answer

Good cyber hygiene starts at the top. Ensure your management team sets the right tone by having it as a standing item on the agenda at recurring meetings chaired by a senior leader. Repetition is key to ensuring cybersecurity remains front of mind for all employees. It's key that employees understand their role in cloud security. Keep it front and center by adding it to your intranet homepage or login screen. Implementing these tactics increases the likelihood that your employees will practice good cyber hygiene.

Nick Schvabenitz · Answer

Companies can educate and empower their employees to practice good cyber hygiene and understand their role in cloud security by emphasizing the importance of strong, unique password management. A practical strategy is to encourage the use of a password vault or password manager. This tool helps employees maintain a variety of complex passwords for different accounts, reducing the risk of breaches. It requires them to memorize only one strong master password. Highlighting the dangers of using easily guessable passwords and the importance of keeping their master password private and complex can significantly enhance an organization's overall security posture.

Gaurav Singh · Answer

The cloud is so ubiquitous today that it takes a lot of work to lose control over what employees are doing in the cloud. My one tip/strategy would be to create a Cloud Governance Team for all stakeholders involved, as per the Roles and Responsibilities matrix. The Cloud Governance Team will not only ensure that standard best practices and standards are being followed for cybersecurity, but it will also make sure each team involved understands their role and follows company policies and standards to ensure cloud security. Cybersecurity is never 100%, so start creating a Team of Cloud Governance and work on increasing the cybersecurity posture and maturity in your organization.

Artem Minaev · Answer

One pivotal approach we've embraced to enhance cyber hygiene and cloud security awareness among our team is the implementation of role-based training modules. Tailored to fit each employee's specific duties and exposure to our technology stack, this strategy ensures that everyone, from developers to marketing personnel, grasps their unique roles in safeguarding our digital assets. A memorable instance of its impact was when a team member, initially unfamiliar with the intricacies of smart-contract vulnerabilities, applied their tailored training to identify a potential security flaw before it could be exploited. This prevented a significant security risk and reinforced the value of customized, role-focused education in fostering a culture of proactive cybersecurity awareness.

Cloud Security Training: Empowering Employees for Cyber Hygiene

Cloud Security Training: Empowering Employees for Cyber Hygiene

Conduct Phishing-Test Attacks and Train

Personalize the Cyber Threat Impact

Combine Cybersecurity with BCMS

Promote VPN Use for Secure Connections

Connect Rewards to Cybersecurity Training

Implement Gamified Cyber-Awareness Training

Engage Teams with Real-World Scenario Training

Enforce “Check Before Sharing” Online Policy

Simulate Real-World Cyber Threats

Make Cybersecurity a Management Agenda Item

Encourage Password Vault Use

Create a Cloud Governance Team

Implement Role-Based Training Modules

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