November 29, 2023 How to Promote Cybersecurity Awareness Year Round

Four simple steps on how organizations can implement a safe cyber digital network.

By: Chris Denbigh-White, Chief Security Officer, Next

The cybersecurity community recently celebrated 20 years of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM). Every October to mark the month, CISA, the National Cybersecurity Alliance, and other public and private sector organizations publish materials to promote cyber awareness and digital hygiene to create a safer digital world. As another October comes and goes, it’s important to carry some of these best cybersecurity practices year round.

After all, the threat landscape continues to evolve day-by-day. In the second quarter of this year alone, there was an 8% increase in weekly cyberattacks — the most significant increase in two years. By committing to educating executives and training employees about cybersecurity and potential cyber threats beyond NCSAM, organizations can combat these risks before they can evolve into something worse.

Here are four simple steps organizations can implement to promote a safe cyber digital network:

1. Use Strong Passwords and a Password Manager

Safeguarding your organization’s passwords is often equated to ‘protecting the keys to your kingdom’; meaning, as soon as a network’s passwords are compromised, an entire framework of digital assets is exposed. In addition to following best password practices like using a variety of letters, numbers, and symbols, employees should be encouraged to use password management apps like 1Password, Keeper, and NordPass. These softwares store all of the employees passwords securely, allowing for users to have unique and strong passwords without having to remember them all. While it may seem like an obvious step, over half of all breaches are caused by stolen or compromised credentials — showing that we still have a ways to go before achieving “password perfection.”

2. Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Along with using strong passwords and password management apps, MFA is an easy, effective way to protect your organization from cybercriminals. MFA adds another step to the login process by requiring users to have multiple access points across different accounts. Adopting MFA not only protects against password theft and credential stuffing attacks (the automated injection of stolen credentials to website forms), it reiterates the importance of your organization’s cybersecurity with every login.

3. Recognize and Report Suspicious Behavior

Educating employees about best cybersafe practices is another vital step when assessing your organization’s overall security posture. In the midst of a cyberattack, the faster an employee can recognize the signs of a breach and take action, the less damage can be done by a threat actor. By implementing routine training, employees will be able to react quickly and effectively in the event of a cyberattack.

4. Update Your Software

An out-of-date digital network is just as risky as having no security measures whatsoever. The IT and security teams should be regularly updating software and monitoring for the latest vulnerabilities. In addition, conducting a regular audit of all of the software on the network to assess if it should be fully replaced can also boost security posture.

It’s important to remember that cybersafety should be a priority year round. The defense mechanisms we discussed are simple steps organization’s can take today to stop cyberthreats before they evolve into a full-blown cyberattack.

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