Many of the small business owners and managers that I talk with don't really understand the importance of cybersecurity awareness training and why they and their employees should do it regularly. Now, I found out that when I tell them a series of stories about other small businesses that have experienced cyber-attacks and the things they went through to recover, the message sometimes starts to sink in and they become a bit more willing to listen. The key is that you and your staff, me and my staff and the client business owner and their staff all need to have at least a basic understanding of the threats they encounter online so that everyone can do their part to effectively protect our organizations. Our staff is often the first line of defense for our organization, so investing in our personnel helps to reduce the vulnerabilities and drive a culture of ownership. Ourselves and our staff must be trained to recognize cybersecurity risks like phishing scams, password hacks and outdated endpoint protection. Regular training really helps our employees to understand that they have an important role to play in our company's cybersecurity and that their actions can either help to keep our company safe or cause our companies to fall prey to the ever-increasing cybersecurity threat landscape. As leaders, it's up to us to develop a culture of awareness to encourage our employees to make good online choices.
