October Cybersecurity Awareness Month to target internal security risks

October 19, 2023 TH Author

Sponsored Post Organisations that fail to adequately address the potential vulnerabilities that internal employees sometimes encounter when developing an IT security strategy are exposing themselves to potentially catastrophic dangers, infosec experts have warned.

Users are inevitably the first line of defense in cyber security, but can make mistakes, often because security protocols are too complex or time consuming. The scale of the risk that staff inside organisations can pose was brought into sharp focus by a new report, Predicts 2023: Cybersecurity Industry Focuses on the Human Deal, by analyst firm Gartner. The study warns that, by 2025, lack of talent or human error will be responsible for over half of significant cyber incidents. Highlighting the potential danger from human risk, the research cited a survey of 1,310 workers which revealed a whopping 69 percent admitted to having bypassed their own organisations’ cybersecurity guidance in the past 12 months.

In order to equip cyber security professionals with the knowledge and tools they need to combat these relentless and fast-evolving internal cyber threats, the SANS Institute, a trusted resource for cybersecurity training, certifications and research, is celebrating Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October. The initiative focuses on a wide range of tools and activities to help security pros develop effective strategies to mitigate human risk and keep their organizations safe.

Foremost among these new resources to help better safeguard digital assets is the SANS Cybersecurity Awareness Month Toolkit, which offers valuable information on reinforcing four essential behaviors to increase resiliency against cyberattacks:

– Deployment of multi-factor Authentication

– Password Best Practices and Password Managers

– Mobile Device Security

– Recognizing and Reporting Phishing

This kit has been carefully designed to seamlessly integrate into established workflows, as a supplement to any existing training programmes, or a perfect companion to ongoing Cybersecurity Awareness Month initiatives.

It contains a veritable treasure trove of goodies for cybersecurity pros tasked with the often-thankless job of educating their organizations’ staff on cybersecurity priorities, and the vital need to follow established best practices. It includes Fact Sheets that provide bite-sized information that helps to clearly explain the importance of the key topics covered in Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

SANS has also developed special Internal Communications Templates which make it easy for cybersecurity professionals to streamline the process of broadcasting important cyber security best practice messages to staff. In addition, SANS-tailored Virtual Meeting Backgrounds deliver a constant visual reminder to all staff of the importance of cybersecurity practices.

SANS warns that humans represent the largest attack vector for cyber criminals, which is why the free Cybersecurity Awareness Month Toolkit has been developed to help arm every human in their organization with the knowledge to defend against these attacks.

You can read more about Cybersecurity Awareness Month by clicking here.

Sponsored by SANS.