As a managed service provider (MSP), you help businesses defend against cybersecurity attacks. However, the cybersecurity services you provide are only as strong as the people behind them. With a clear focus on cybersecurity awareness, you can teach companies how to keep pace with current and emerging threats. On top of that, these businesses will be able to get the most value out of your security services.
Help businesses develop, implement, and optimize their cybersecurity. Here are strategies you can use to teach businesses about the cybersecurity landscape.
Effective Awareness Training
Offer regular, customized cybersecurity awareness training sessions on your own or partner with a third party to provide them. Employees at all levels should be required to complete these sessions since they explain how each worker plays a role in protecting their business against cyberattacks. The sessions can be tailored to a workforce. They can include videos, games, and other interactive learning materials to both engage and educate workers.
An initial training session can explain cybersecurity terms and definitions and teach workers how to combat cyberthreats. From here, future sessions can focus on identifying threats across malicious emails and other attack vectors. They can feature cybersecurity drills, phishing attacks, and other exercises and simulations to test an employee's cybersecurity awareness. If tests reveal that employees are struggling in certain areas, a business can update its training sessions accordingly.
Employees should have plenty of opportunities to apply their cybersecurity knowledge and insights to their day-to-day activities. By incorporating training sessions into its workflows, a business can foster a culture of cybersecurity awareness. This culture can resonate across the workforce, ensuring that employees retain what they're taught and use what they learn.
4 white-label posters to help you educate your end-users on how not to get hit by ransomware.
Continuous Testing
Audit a company's technology assets and the data stored, transmitted, and created on them. This gives you insights into the risks a business faces. You can use these insights to develop a risk management profile for each asset. You can use a risk profile to explain to a business how likely it is that an asset will be compromised.
During a risk assessment, analyze the relationships between assets and vulnerabilities. Once you understand these relationships, you can explore ways to address these vulnerabilities before they lead to cyberattacks and data breaches. You can also implement tools and processes to secure these assets and track their results.
Security audits and risk assessments should be completed at least once every two years. For critical assets, it may be beneficial to conduct these evaluations annually. Each assessment gives a business a glimpse into its security posture and cyber risk and threat exposure, helping to ensure that the company has effective security controls in place to protect its current applications, tools, and utilities.
Further reading 9 Worst Cybersecurity Practices
Consistent Communication
Make it as easy as possible for a company to share its cybersecurity best practices with workers. For example, you can provide templates for newsletters, security alerts, and other cybersecurity communications. Companies can use these templates to quickly and easily craft cybersecurity messages.
A business should keep its employees up to date about its cybersecurity policies and guidelines. Employees need this information to respond to system outages and other emergencies. When workers know what to expect in these situations, they're well-equipped to avoid mistakes.
When it comes to cybersecurity communications, it is always better to err on the side of caution. Encourage companies to over-communicate with their employees about cybersecurity. With each message, a business helps its employees keep cybersecurity top of mind. This boosts the likelihood that employees will be able to immediately identify and resolve cyberthreats.
Thanks to these strategies, businesses can reduce their risk of cyber incidents.
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