Is Security Awareness Training Worthwhile for a Small Business?

As the owner of a small business, your plate is pretty full. You’ve got a business to run, new clients to wow, and a seemingly never-ending list of tasks to get through. What’s more, you’ve got to do all that on a relatively small budget.

So, when someone comes to you and suggests implementing a security awareness training program for your business, you might be hesitant. After all, why would cybercriminals be interested in hacking your system? You’d hardly think that the information on the system is worth the effort of stealing.

In this post, we’re going to go through whether it’s a good idea for a small business to have security awareness training. We’ll look at this specific aspect. If you’d like more information on cybersecurity in general, check out our post on the topic.

1. You’re More of a Target Than You Might Think

And, if we were comparing apples with apples, then no, you don’t pose a particularly juicy target for cybercriminals. They may get a few thousand names from you, but a few million names from a large multinational.

But there’s more to consider than just the potential payoff for the crooks. We also have to consider the ease with which they can launch their attack. Sure, a site like Facebook has lots of tempting data to steal. But Facebook knows that as well. That’s why it pays for top online security measures.

Your business may not have the same amount of names, but it also doesn’t have the same level of security. This can mean that your business is more attractive – it’s an easy win for the hacker.

Besides, hackers don’t have to steal data to make money out of you. What if, instead, they simply infect your system with ransomware? All that happens then is that you get locked out of your system. If you want to regain control, you pay the ransom and hope that they’ll relinquish control.

For a small company, this kind of attack can be devastating. Large multinationals will have a backup plan in place. Small companies, however, might have no option but to pay up.

2. Is Security Awareness Training Worthwhile?

What is Security Awareness Training (S.A.T.)?

S.A.T. is a crash course in cybersecurity. A skilled trainer will come through and provide training on:

• Best practices when it comes to cybersecurity
• Potential attack vectors that might be used
• How to recognize a potential attack
• How to safeguard against attacks
• How to identify phishing emails.

Basically, the idea is to ensure that your staff has a good idea of how cybercriminals operate. They’ll learn to be more vigilant and how to ensure that they’re safe on and offline.

3. Some Examples of What They’ll Learn

We all know the basics of online security. You don’t click on dodgy links, you choose a strong password, and you always back up your data. All of that is good advice. Unfortunately, it might not be the most up to date advice. Let’s look at why:

Definitions have changed: Ten years ago, all you needed were a mix of letters and numbers to create a secure password. Today you need a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters. What’s more, you need to change the case of some of the letters too.

Criminals have become a lot more sophisticated: We’ve all seen those Nigerian prince emails. They’re obvious scams. Unfortunately, not all phishers are quite as easy to spot. Some make a fine art out of the game. These emails are difficult to distinguish from the real company mailers unless you’re looking at them up close and personal.

4. What it Boils Down To

At the end of the day, cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Having a trainer come in to get everyone on the same page when it comes to these issues is helpful. It could even save your business undergoing an expensive and embarrassing breach.

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