Let's talk numbers for a moment. According to Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, the human element was a factor in a staggering 68% of breaches. This stat challenges the common misconception that cyberattacks are purely technological battles. In reality, they are often battles of wits, where attackers exploit human psychology through tactics like phishing and social engineering.

An untrained employee is like an unlocked door, a potential entry point for malicious actors looking to steal data, disrupt operations, and damage your hard-earned reputation. The average cost of a data breach has soared to nearly $4.88 million, a price few small or medium-sized businesses in Maryland can afford to pay. Let’s talk about how to keep your name off the bill.

Why You Need to Build a Human Firewall (and How!)

Our team here at Dresner Group has always believed in the value of a multi-layered defense. Your business needs to have the typical modern cybersecurity solutions like firewalls, antivirus, and active threat detection. Your team members and their preparedness are the next layer. 

Many modern threats are designed to take advantage of the human element. The most effective way to fight against them is to turn your team from a liability to an asset.

There are a few ways to do so.

Bake It into Your Culture

While it can be tempting to provide a training session or two and call it good, your business’ security needs to be ingrained into your overall corporate culture. Any process, for instance, should begin by considering how to properly secure all assets and steps.

Engage Your Team, Constantly

The human memory is notoriously unreliable, with most new information being lost within a day if it isn’t reinforced and repeated. This makes it key that any training you do happens more frequently than once or so a year.

Train in Bursts

Similarly, it is easier to absorb information in bite-sized increments, as compared to marathon seminars and day-long training sessions. Make training as accessible and digestible as possible for best results. Our training modules are typically under 5 minutes in length, preventing them from taking up too much time while still being effective.

Encourage Competition

By turning your training efforts into a bit of friendly competition, it is easy to reframe your team’s perspective of these necessary efforts and boost engagement. Announce those who get the highest training scores, and offer little rewards for those who complete certain milestones in their training.

Departmental Shifts

If there are certain threats that some departments within your business are more likely to face, or processes that need to be followed in certain ways to remain secure, make sure your training efforts reflect these differences and address recognizable situations.

Keep it Simple

Rather than explaining the intricacies of various attacks and threats, focus on teaching your team what they actively need to know—what is suspicious, what to do to inherently boost your own security, and how to respond if they do make a mistake.

Encourage Communication

If your team members are afraid of the consequences of accidentally letting in a cybersecurity threat, they’ll be less likely to report issues they do encounter. Reinforce that quick reporting is key in these situations, and that accidents will not be punished.

There’s no shame in being attacked. There’s no shame in accidentally clicking a malicious link. It’s much more important that this behavior gets reported.

All Dresner Clients Get Access to Our Cybersecurity Training

We’ve helped businesses manage their essential technology for decades, and a major part of this has been assisting the organizations we’ve partnered with in preparing to address threats and issues.

Part of this assistance involves educating your team members about the practices that will keep your business and all its associated data safe. Discover more about this by learning about our Employee Security Training, which is included for all our clients.

Again, your employees can either be your greatest security asset or your most significant liability. 

The choice is ultimately yours, but if you do choose the former option, investing in their training is one of the most cost-effective ways to fortify your business against the threats they are sure to face.

Don't wait for a breach to force your hand. Contact Dresner Group today for a free risk assessment. Let's build a stronger, more secure future for your business together.

Call us at (410) 531-6727 to get started.