5 Things Your Employees Should Know About Information Security

Your employees are either the strongest or weakest link in your company’s information security efforts. However, it’s your responsibility to give them the knowledge they need to make the right decisions. Here we’ve put together a list of helpful information security tips you can share with your staff.

1. If you can remember your password, it’s probably not strong enough

Weak passwords offer an easy gateway for hackers to gain unauthorised access to your business applications. Experts recommend using longer, varied passwords that combine numbers, symbols, uppercase and lowercase letters. A unique password should be used for each application an employee uses, and should be changed several times a year. Encourage your employees to change their passwords every few months–or better yet, make it company policy.

2. Report security incidents right away

The longer it takes to report a network security breach, the more damage it can cause to your company. If an employee identifies a suspicious email, attachment, or pop-up message, encourage them to immediately report the incident. The more quickly the problem is isolated, the less chance it has to impact your entire network.

3. Beware of low-tech data theft methods

Too often, the focus on protecting a company’s digital information comes at the expense of securing its paper records. Your employees should know that criminals still use low-tech methods to gain access to confidential information, such as:

• Stealing documents out of cars
• “Over the shoulder” reading on public transportation
• Telephone phishing scams
• Stealing mobile phones

Knowing this, employees should always stay vigilant about providing sensitive information over the phone without confirming the identity of the caller and confidential documents should never be left in cars or viewed while riding on buses or trains.

4. Use a secure collection container for smart disposal

Many companies spend thousands of pounds purchasing office paper shredders for their employees to use, but these shredding machines offer no guarantee that all of your employees will use the same discretion when destroying files. However, if you engage a secure destruction company for regular document shredding, convenient, locked collection containers will be placed throughout the building.

Initiate a policy that requires all employees to use these secure collection containers to dispose of paper documents. Your staff are likely to thank you for saving them from the hassle and frustration of feeding documents through a shredding machine.

5. Information security is a team effort

Lastly, information security isn’t just the responsibility of your company’s IT or compliance department—it really is a company-wide effort. As each employee is doing her part to ensure company data is protected, they should also be encouraged to ask for help and offer suggestions. The more discussion that happens, the better protected your organisation will be!

Contact Yorshred to see how we can help your employees to protect the reputation of your business.