Smartphones are popular and used by many, and it’s prevalent for people to use them for work or business, thereby storing vital information on them. Technology has brought many benefits, and our reliance on it has grown massively. While it can add convenience and boost productivity, mobile technology poses a serious security threat from scammers, hackers and cybercriminals. People have become so accustomed to the benefits of technology making their lives easier that they can become calm and careless about securing document sharing.
Verizon’s Mobile Security Index 2022 report found that 45% of organizations surveyed had experienced threats related to mobile devices with 73% regarding the impact as major. These breaches can be caused by something as simple as an employee downloading a harmful mobile application. With the average data breach cost in 2020 coming in at $3.86 million, it’s crucial to protect your organization. However, you must do more than invest in security solutions. You must also provide data privacy and cybersecurity awareness training to all employees. This means anyone using their mobile device for work must be educated about potential risks and how to spot any vulnerabilities.
Here are some practical steps to train employees using mobile devices on to ensure a safe learning and work environment for everyone.
1. Implement Strong Authentication Measures
It’s highly risky not to use a passcode on your devices as it can give unrestricted access to sensitive and personal data to anyone who gets it. Therefore, it’s highly recommended to use strong passwords, including alphanumeric characters and biometrics like fingerprint authentication, to make unauthorized access almost impossible.
Ensure your learners’ passwords are complex and unique for each app or account they use and avoid using the “remember me” feature in browsers as it can increase the chance of password spoofing. It’s crucial to periodically change your password and never share it with anyone, even if they ask for it nicely. These best practices should be communicated to everyone in the organization. To help, companies can set up reminders for people to change their passwords quarterly. These precautions can help safeguard your digital information and protect you from potential breaches.
2. Avoid Connecting to Public or Unsecured Wi-Fi Networks
Most companies have free wireless connection for their employees. However, connecting to an open network can lead to costly mistakes, particularly since most networks are not encrypted. Whenever you connect to an open network, you increase your vulnerability to malware and hackers. Cybercriminals can easily track what you do online and steal your usernames and passwords.
3. Train Employees on Mobile Security Best Practices
The best way to reduce the impact of scams and cyberattacks is by properly training employees on data security and safety practices. The risk of a security breach can be greatly reduced by teaching employees how to spot and deal with possible threats. People often don’t think about simple security problems like accessing private information while riding public transportation. However, these seemingly insignificant actions can lead to serious security breaches.
Employees can be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to identify and respond to potential threats by providing regular awareness training. This can help protect the company’s data and assets, stop costly data breaches and maintain customers’ trust.
4. Conduct Regular Mobile Security Audits and Risk Assessments
Waiting for an attack to determine whether your cybersecurity strategy works is dangerous. You should run regular security audits and checkups and hire outside parties to conduct penetration tests and identify weaknesses in your defenses. Ensure the message is clear to employees and that you have the proper procedures and tools in place for them to ignore, delete or report issues.
There are many security risks for smartphone users today, which will continue to grow along with the device’s popularity. Also, businesses need to lock down all devices that can access business data and take steps to make sure that their data stays in the right hands. This common goal applies to the security network, PCs, laptops and applications.
By training employees on these best practices, company data will remain safe and secure.
