With Covid-19 and remote working on the rise, hackers are taking advantage of the situation by breaching network security while employees work from home – often using insecure networks.

Apart from new and improved techniques in hacking, humans also pose a large threat for data loss and security. And because of the significance of data and information, regulatory compliance and the protection of intellectual property should be a top priority of companies.

Enterprises do take measures to protect their customers and their data from criminal activity, but the threat needs to be diminished almost completely for companies to see any significant improvement in security. 

Below are some of the tips that you can follow to alleviate the risk of security breaches because of human error.

The Consequences of Human Error

Using email is usually thought to be a reliable process when it comes to business communication. Almost 300 billion emails are sent and received every day – and that’s why phishing attacks are on the rise via emails. When an employee is sending and receiving tons of emails everyday, it’s impossible never to make a mistake, especially when the employee is stressed or unhappy. 

According to research, human error is behind 34% of security breaches. The consequences of these breaches are losing money, your competitive edge, and the trust of customers – and for a business, that’s an almost irreparable loss.

So what’s the solution? Educating employees regarding their responsibilities and encouraging them to learn how to manage their email functions can be a good start. Ask them to check and read the email properly before clicking the send button.

Additional Layers

A simple mistake can put the company at huge risk, but only a few companies focus on strategies to educate their employees regarding their vulnerabilities – not to mention even fewer organizations have clear strategies in place that can mitigate the risk of insider threats.

An additional layer (such as reconfirmation of email addresses, attachments, etc) is always a good idea when it comes to protecting your data. Using additional safety checks can help employees avoid blunders. Another way of adding an additional layer is by setting up keywords that are triggered when sensitive information is being sent. It gives the employee a chance to double-check their email when the triggered keyword is used in an email attachment.

The Essential “Pause” Moment

Using tools like additional layers helps businesses stay safe from cyberbullies and promotes a culture of security. Educating and training employees on the importance of cyber security can help reduce human error and phishing attacks will no longer exist if employees are using these tools. These measures can not eliminate the risk completely, but they definitely allow the employee a “pause” moment before hitting Send.

It’s when strategies like these are implemented that companies begin the journey to cybersecurity in the workplace.