Only 31% of employees receive annual cybersecurity training, Chubb’s Third Annual Cyber Report has found. According to Small Business Trends, the report shows that employees’ perception of their security posture doesn’t match up with reality. 70% of the employees surveyed said their organization has “excellent” or “good” security practices and 80% said they were concerned about a breach, but the majority exhibited poor security habits and couldn’t identify common threats.
For example, the only cyber threat more than half of the respondents could identify was ransomware, at 54%. Additionally, only 41% said they had antivirus software on their devices, and just 30% reported using multifactor authentication.
Fran O’Brien, Division President of Chubb North America Personal Risk Services, emphasized in a press release that businesses can’t wait until after a cyberattack to begin taking security seriously.
“When it comes to your cybersecurity, there's no such thing as being over prepared,” O’Brien said. “While it’s important that the vast majority of respondents remain concerned about a breach, concern itself isn’t enough. Individuals often say their lack of cybersecurity action is because it seems too time-consuming in the moment. But implementing cyber safeguards today will save time and financial resources tomorrow, should a breach occur.”
This is particularly true for smaller companies, because they might not get a second chance. Small Business Trends points out that 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses, and these companies often go out of business after such an attack.
It’s significant that the observation about training comes from Chubb, a leading insurance company and thus an expert on risk reduction. Employees don’t need to become cybersecurity experts in order to defend against threats. If they possess an understanding of the warning signs and follow best practices, they can drastically reduce the likelihood of an attack.
New-school security awareness training can teach your employees how to recognize red flags and stay secure as they go about their work. Small Business Trends has the story: https://smallbiztrends.com/2019/09/2019-cyber-security-statistics.html
