Halloween brings to mind ghosts, witches, gremlins, and scary creatures coming from the dark. Businesses do battle with modern-day creatures from the dark on a daily basis. Hackers, cybercriminals, and ransomware perpetrators are seeking to disguise themselves just as Halloween revelers do. The difference between the Halloween revelers and cyber bad guys is that the revelers come only once a year and rarely trick – they just want a treat. Cyber bad guys are trying to disguise themselves and trick you constantly with their cyberattacks.
Cyberattacks are often the result of human error
Cybercrime is due to human error 90% of the time. The criminals will not ring your doorbell and yell trick or treat to alert you of their presence. They will seek to fool you with their trickery. What can you do to prevent yourself from being part of the 90% that has been fooled? Fooled at home or work – as our lives are digitally dependent today.
Cybersecurity awareness training for all employees can not only shift an organization’s culture to be actively engaged in prevention but can reap other rewards. In a recent Forbes study, 99% indicated that “security awareness has a positive impact on the company’s error culture. Further, 96% noted a positive influence on the working atmosphere.”
Think of all those cute Star Trek trick-or-treaters ringing your doorbell. In the world of Star Trek, the Starship’s captain would yell, “Raise the force fields,” when encountering danger. Can you hear Captain Kirk calling – “Scotty, give me all the power you’ve got!”? Effective cyber awareness training is like that force field shielding your organization’s “starship” from attack. Be like Captain Picard and “make it so.”
Costumes of kings, princesses, and knights may show up on your doorstep this year. Kings and knights built great castles with high, strong walls to protect from their enemies. If anyone within the castle lowered the drawbridge and opened the gate- the great walls lost all their value. Why do employees keep ignoring workplace cybersecurity rules?
Today, we find those in business figuratively within great walls are lowering the drawbridge and raising the gates. A recent Gartner survey found that 69% of employees have bypassed their organization’s cybersecurity guidance in the past 12 months, and 74% of employees would be willing to bypass cybersecurity guidance if it helped them or their team achieve a business objective.
A new way to prevent cyberattacks
Post covid, the new normal of working from home needed to totally shift the business model from on-site training to virtual training. There was no advantage in offering the same old standard virtual training, so Drip7 set out to create a whole new method for cybersecurity training that fits the times we’re living in. A method that is more effective, engaging, and even fun – gamified microlearning.
Drip7 developed a fully gamified micro-learning platform that teaches safe computing by serving up a single question every day for seven days, 365 days a year. A new kind of learning system combining a scientifically proven method to teach technical information more effectively with the fun and challenges of badges, levels, and rewards. A learning technology that’s fully mobile and entirely customizable.
Training the way we have always trained is not the answer. More customized, scenario-based, consistent, rewards-focused training is the key. Be like a Star Wars Jedi – with a clear focus on channeling the “forces” of good to protect your organization.
The scary part of cybersecurity training is if your organization is ingrained in what they did ten years ago, maintaining the status quo, they will be caught in their own scary event because they haven’t prepared for the evildoers of today.
Be the superhero, and whether you are Superman or Spider-Man, prepare your organization’s universe for confronting bad guys, from the cyber version of Lex Luther to the Green Goblin. Is your organization training for an old-fashioned cops and robbers shootout when the world is using AI-enhanced robotics?
You don’t want your organization “terminated” by a cyber incident like the Illinois hospital that closed its doors this summer and cited a ransomware attack as a major factor.
Phishing remains the most common type of cyberattack, with approximately 3.4 billion daily spam emails. They multiply as fast as Tribbles in Star Trek.
You can avoid scary cybercriminals!
The cyber witches of the world will continue to brew evil spells and concoctions to attack your organization year-round. Let this Halloween season be a reminder to always be vigilant in standing guard of your organization’s digital assets. Mentally don the costume of your favorite hero, train like an athlete in cyber awareness, and protect your organization from all the evil cyberattacks. Happy Halloween.