Employees Lack Knowledge to Prevent Cyber Incidents
According to a recent report, 88 percent of employees lack the understanding necessary to prevent common cyber incidents.
That report is based on the results of a survey given to more than 1,000 employees across the United States, and was designed to test the level of knowledge and awareness of cyber security among employees by asking them to name proper behaviors in given circumstances. The survey covered eight risk domains and assigned three risk profiles—Risk, Novice and Hero—to indicate an employee’s privacy and security awareness IQ.
Key findings from the report include the following:
- Only 12 percent of respondents earned a “Hero” profile, while 72 percent were given a “Novice” profile and 16 percent were given a “Risk” profile.
- Almost 40 percent of respondents disposed of a password hint using unsecure means.
- About 25 percent of respondents failed to recognize a sample phishing email, even though it came from a questionable sender and included an attachment.
This report highlights one of the key vulnerabilities of any organization—employees’ lack of basic cyber security knowledge. Regardless of other hardware or network protections, employees can and will allow cyber criminals into an organization, often without even realizing it.
Fortunately, employee cyber training can help reduce this risk to your organization. For employee cyber training resources, contact your local Marshall & Sterling office today and ask about our Employee Cyber Training Manterials.
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