Today’s modern business landscape, with its reliance on technology, is prone to threats of all kinds. And digital threats, such as data breaches, phishing attacks, and ransomware, are only getting more complex and rampant.
Developing a strong security culture is not just a recommendation; it’s a necessity.
Let’s explore why creating a company culture for security is so mission-critical and learn about some actionable steps businesses can take to strengthen their security culture.
What Is Security Culture?
Security culture is a set of beliefs, practices, and attitudes a business or organization can adopt to safeguard its assets. While this tends to focus on cybersecurity, creating a company culture for security extends to physical assets as well.
Every 39 seconds, a brute-force hacker attacks. Poor credential management is a prime driver of these types of threats. Developing a strong security culture that promotes robust password policies is key to mitigating these risks.
Neglecting the development of a comprehensive security culture can also lead to other operational impacts:
- Increased vulnerability to cyber attacks
- Potential legal and financial repercussions
- Non-compliance with data protection laws and regulations
How to Evaluate Your Current Security Culture
To strengthen a business’s security posture, a thorough evaluation of the current culture is needed. Evaluation helps identify strengths and weaknesses in the existing approaches to security. There are many different methodologies that can be part of an evaluation:
- Surveys
- Interviews
- Employee behavior observation
- Internal audits and reviews of past incidents
Organizations should honestly evaluate where they stand in terms of security culture maturity. It’s important to recognize areas that need improvement, as this is the first step in developing a more robust security culture.
Key Components of Creating a Company Culture for Security
The development of a robust security culture is the responsibility of everyone in the organization. Data breaches alone cost companies, on average, $4 million, making policies around security a concern for everyone.
While leadership will play a critical role in creating policies and enacting them, it’s the employees who need to engage with these strategies in their everyday operations. Here are some actionable strategies that can help your organization strengthen its security culture.
1. Employee Training and Awareness Programs
Employee cybersecurity training is a key element of any effective security culture. Training should use formats like interactive models and real-life scenarios to drive home learned concepts. It’s also important to keep a regular training schedule so employees are up to date on current trends and policies.
2. Foster a Security-Minded Workforce
Always empower employees to operate with best security practices in mind. Develop programs that identify security champions within the organization and from diverse departments. Try to promote the idea that security is a collective responsibility and always incentivize employees to adhere to good security practices.
3. Communication and Collaboration
Open communication is the bedrock of proper security. Encourage team members to report security concerns or breaches promptly and be sure to make this process easy. Of course, this responsibility goes both ways. Leadership should be transparent about policies and procedures and always highlight changes to work toward a unified approach to security across all departments.
4. Leverage Technology and Tools
Whether it’s managed detection and response or simple password management platforms, the right tools matter. Invest in reliable security software and other tools, keep them regularly updated, and ensure all employees are both properly trained and up to date on the latest security practices.
5. Continuous Improvement and Adaptation
Creating a company culture for security is not a one-time event. Always conduct periodic reviews of security practices and stay informed on the latest trends in cybersecurity as well as common threats. It’s a good idea to develop channels within an organization so employees can provide feedback.
Ready to Improve Your Security Culture?
Developing a security culture is a mission-critical task for businesses of all sizes and across virtually every industry. To get it right, organizations must first evaluate their current security culture and then take actionable steps toward implementing best practices and proactive measures.
Get in touch if you need assistance in understanding and improving your security culture. We’ll help you identify areas of improvement and advise on the best strategies to keep your business safe.
