When It Comes to Cybersecurity, Consider a Top-Down Approach

Cybersecurity is one aspect of running a business that absolutely cannot be underestimated in its importance. It doesn't matter if you’re a huge enterprise or a small business; if you don’t take cybersecurity seriously, there is a very real possibility that your organization could be threatened in the near future. The easiest way to ensure your business’ continuity is to develop an internal culture of cybersecurity, and it starts from the top-down with you, the boss.

In the grand scheme of things, it does not matter how advanced or high-tech your security solutions are or how secure your passwords are. If your team members aren’t behaving with security at the top of their minds, your cybersecurity solutions will not yield the results you are hoping for. To this end, it is important to establish cybersecurity as a priority within your company’s culture.

How to Build a Culture of Cybersecurity for Your Business

Social proof, a concept that is mostly applied to marketing, can be a key component of implementing any type of lasting change in your organization’s cybersecurity culture. In essence, social proof refers to the idea that people can be convinced to think or act in a certain way based on testimonials of peers and colleagues. It’s easy to see how this can influence the workplace, but as is the case with most things in life, it’s not nearly this simple.

The key takeaway here is that the culture around your organization’s cybersecurity will mold around itself over time (if you give it time to do so).

Consider this scenario: a new employee just starts working for your company and is getting set up with network access, permissions, and everything else necessary for the position. If your organization’s cybersecurity culture is poor, the new employee’s coworkers might suggest they use the same username and password, a practice that is usually frowned upon. However, if this attitude is prevalent throughout the department, then it becomes the norm. This new employee then continues to spread the practice throughout the company as new hires are brought on, creating a systemic cybersecurity issue for your entire business.

Now let’s say that the opposite is true, and your employees instead reinforce good cybersecurity practices to all new hires. If company policies require that all passwords maintain a certain level of complexity and all staff are on board with this message of security, then it’s much more likely that new hires will move forward with security at the top of their mind.

It All Starts With You

There are several ways that you can organically infuse cybersecurity awareness into your business operations. Here are just a few of them:

• Rather than simply having password policies in place, enforce them by only allowing passwords that meet these minimum requirements.
• Access controls are important, but monitoring these protections on a regular basis is critical to identifying and addressing weaknesses or shortcomings.
• Security onboarding is important but should also be reinforced periodically through a refresher course.

As the leader, your business’ employees will be looking to you to take the lead on security. By setting a good example, you can change your organization’s cybersecurity culture for the better. k_Street Consulting, LLC can help you with not only implementing security solutions, but reinforcing best practices that will foster the kind of culture you are looking for in your business. To learn more, reach out to us at (202) 640-2737.