It's a well-established fact that employee negligence is one of the leading causes of data breach. Which is why businesses of all sizes have incorporated cybersecurity education sessions into their typical trainings. But is this really enough to assuage the risk of digital incursion?
While you'd never want to harm your company or your coworkers, there are methods to test your internal security. Below are a few ways businesses are harmlessly hacking their employees.
Will your workers learn the easy way or the hard way?
Phish to Fry
Employee education is crucial to the continued success and longevity of your organization. Still, it's not panacea for security risks.
According to a Verizon data breach report, 30 percent of employees get hooked by phishing emails even after a training session. What's even worse is that only three percent reported the problem to management or IT. Yikes!
However, there are services to test employee 'phishability' without endangering your network. PhishMe, for example, sends selected users a simulated phishing email. If the worker falls for the scam, they are given immediate feedback and counseling on company policy. These tests run every few months so the same employees can improve their awareness or vulnerability.
How do you think your team would fare? Could you detect the fraudulent email, attachment or link?
Defenseless Devices
Some offices (which won't be named) have adopted peer testing to assess the internal security of an organization. For example, an employee who leaves their laptop computer or personal device bereft of password protections might be hacked by another worker who opens their technologies.
This, of course, could have negative consequences. If a worker goes to get a drink of water and comes back to see a slew of insulting comments posted from their social media handle, they could be very mad.
If your office does decide to endorse a peer testing program, make sure everyone knows the rules. Respect each other's privacy and boundaries. Perhaps leaving a gentle reminder about password protocol on a Word document or sticky note is enough. After all, the point isn't to antagonize your coworkers; it's to remind them of the little entry points real hackers exploit.
Hire a White Hat Hacker
There is another way to hack your coworkers, but this time it's via a professional. White hat hackers are cybersecurity professionals that exploit security gaps to demonstrate where companies can improve their defenses.
Chris Hadnagy, for instance, is a prominent white hat hacker for hire that goes after social security numbers, passwords and employee ID numbers. How does he do it? Hadnagy has a knack for social engineering scams that fool users into sharing their most private information with a complete stranger. This could be a phone call from an HR representative, an email from the DMV or any number of phony personalities.
Hadnagy says that social media "is the devil" because it allows people like him to gather enough information about a target to convince them to share even more personal details. The goal is to instill a healthy suspicion in web users, so they will be less likely to fall for a cyber crook's attacks.
Are you ready to hack your coworkers? Are you ready to fend off a cyberattack yourself? Even if a hacker does break through your defenses, CyberPolicy is here to help with data breach insurance. Get your free quote today!
