We live in a world where cyber-attacks are the new norm, but is cybersecurity awareness a norm in your organization? On August 31st, Blackink IT held our first in-person event, where individuals from various industries gathered to understand how to develop a company culture that brings awareness to cyber-attacks and encourages employees to speak up if they see something.
The Importance of Employee Cybersecurity Knowledge
It is clear: only a team can win. You cannot depend on one person or department in your organization to “cover” cybersecurity. There needs to be a level of trust and ownership between employees, no matter what position you hold. If your team is united, you will be in an ideal position to mitigate risk.
Our speaker panel of Shawna Neilson, Stephanie Eckerle, and John “Boomer” Boomershine provided engaging insight into how to best prepare for cyber-attacks.
The legal team is significant to your risk management. With Stephanie’s background, she found “For companies, it’s about having your team in place. This includes your IT, forensic, insurance, PR, legal, business continuity, and your executive teams. Having this in place will be critical as we continue to see a rise in cybersecurity attacks.”
Cyber Insurance is Key
From an insurance perspective, Shawna reiterated the importance of cyber insurance. She stated, “cyber insurance is an insurance policy that helps with breach response. The good thing about having the policy is that you only have one call to make.” The breach response coach is your “go-to” person for when an attack occurs, centralizing the response plan.
Implement a Incident Response Plan
Finally, representing the technical side, Boomer found, “Understanding the threat landscape by doing an assessment of your environment is a good step. Many times, that might be triggered by developing a plan, you kind of need to know what you have in order to protect it. Also, I think it is key to do it in an ‘open book’ fashion to make sure you are sharing with staff as you go through the process of learning.”
The future of cybersecurity, in Boomer’s words, is “is unknown but bleak.” Being aware of these different actors and approaches is necessary, as they are only going to increase in severity, frequency, and complexity.
Interested in More?
Did you miss the event on August 31st and wish to learn more about the discussion? Or hope to follow up with our team about something you would like to implement? Be sure to contact us!
