Hot topic of the month
Why a security culture is as important as security tools
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, which is the perfect time to evaluate your company’s security culture. Organizations without a built-in culture of security leave themselves open to many more vectors of attack.
In organizations with a good security culture, employees know to always be on the lookout for potential security threats. They report suspicious emails and activity to their security team and understand the importance of vigilance.
What is the security culture of your organization? How would your employees react in the following two scenarios?
What happens when an employee receives a phishing email with grammatical errors and a suspicious link?
- With a bad security culture: Email is ignored and/or deleted.
- With a good security culture: Email is reported to the cybersecurity team for investigation.
What happens when a USB device is found on the floor marked ‘Payroll 2022’?
- With a bad security culture: The USB device is inserted into a computer.
- With a good security culture: The USB device is given to the cybersecurity team for investigation.
Building a good security culture requires employees to fully understand the implications of a security breach. They need to understand techniques, such as phishing and social engineering, that are commonly used by criminals. They also need to know, understand and follow the overall security policy the organization.
Without a security culture, even with the best security products, human error can allow cybercriminals to penetrate an organization’s network.
Security culture or not, companies are taking security very seriously by spending more on security products than ever before. The global cyber security market is booming, with revenues expected to hit USD 334 billion in 2026, up from USD 220 billion last year, according to data and analytics firm Global Data.
This growth is fuelled by digital transformations, massive uptake in the number of connected internet of things (IoT) devices and a general increase in the adoption of security products. The report warns that Australia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, India and Taiwan are facing an increase in ransomware, phishing and network attacks.