How organisations can protect employees from cyber threats

Organisations must improve the efficiency of the Security Operations Center with total visibility. They must use advanced solution stacks such as SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) to create a centralised and integrated dashboard. Such a mechanism can deal with low level security events by itself.

The implementation of multi-layer authentication can add an extra layer of security and make it extremely difficult for cyber attackers to invade secure systems. In multi-layer authentication, users are prompted to enter additional credentials to verify their identity. Multiple credentials can include a security code on the user’s smartphone or answer to a security question.

Organisations must restrict access to sensitive data and systems. The access to sensitive data should be reviewed and provided to select teams only. In a remote work setting, the use of a virtual private network (VPN) is vital to secure sensitive data and assets. A virtual private network creates a safe, encrypted connection to ensure that sensitive data is safely transmitted. It prevents unauthorised access and enables the user to work safely in a remote setting. Thus, employees can work outside the office and still connect to a safe network.

The current crisis also accentuates the need for organisations to use a remote training framework that can educate employees about ways to identify and deal with security risks. It should also outline procedures to follow in case of a security incident. In the current lockdown situation, organisations can benefit from remote training programs such as Cyber Range. This program prepares security teams by providing a hyper-realistic, virtual SOC environment in which they can train in responding to real-world, simulated cyberattacks and dramatically improve their performance. The program ensures that security teams have the necessary experience to mitigate an attack effectively. It enhances the security skills of individual team members and improves the overall coordination of the team. In a virtual SOC environment, team members understand how to use various security tools to respond to simulated attacks. The training in a hyper-realistic environment covers a wide variety of scenarios with different difficulty levels.

In a remote setting, it is also important for organisations to train their security as well as other teams to respond quickly and deal with an incident at a short notice. Security teams must carefully assess their strategy and processes to reduce the response time. They must share best practices with all employees and provide information about security risks. They must be ready with crisis management and incident response plans.

As much as possible, organisations should provide company laptops to employees. As against personal laptops, company laptops are equipped with multiple security tools and antivirus software. Many of these security tools may be missing in personal laptops and devices. Low security standards of home Wi-Fi connections present a key challenge for cybersecurity. Employees must use secure network connections and refrain from browsing untrusted websites. They must use trusted sources of information such as websites of government authorities and agencies. They must be careful not to click suspicious links in emails sent by unknown users. In general, employees should stay alert and exercise maximum caution when accessing company data.

The author is Managing Director – India/South Asia & ASEAN, Cyberbit, A global Cybersecurity training company.