I wholeheartedly believe that cyber security has become the responsibility of everyone in an organisation. Many people now work with digital systems, handle sensitive information or connect to the internet when completing their work.
Though it remains everyone’s responsibility, which people should lead these initiatives?
Your HR team is one group that should help with driving cyber security training and awareness. Why should HR care about cyber security?
HR are responsible for onboarding and offboarding
HR plays a critical role in cyber security because they set up accounts for new employees and must ensure that only authorised individuals have access to sensitive data.
HR can help protect an organisation’s data by managing employee access levels. When a new employee starts, HR should determine what level of access they need to do their job effectively. For example, a customer service representative might only need access to basic information about customers, while a marketing manager might need access to more detailed data.
When someone leaves the organisation, HR will shut down their accounts and ensure they no longer have access to sensitive information.
By managing employee access levels, HR can help protect an organisation’s data from being accessed by unauthorised individuals and strengthen the company’s cyber security posture.
HR understands the best approaches to employee training
HR already holds responsibility for training staff and will know which approaches are least likely to engage people. We see traditional training methods – such as bringing people into a room and delivering a lecture – as ineffective. Knowledge retention suffers, and delivering one training session on cyber security simply does not suffice. Your staff need multiple opportunities to learn and have their memories refreshed.
Gamification of cyber security training has become a key method for driving engagement and improving knowledge retention. Your HR department might already leverage gamification to train employees and will understand its value in cyber security training.
HR contributes to designing company policies
Cyber security policies are essential to strengthening your cyber security posture. Policies should outline the precautions that staff must take to protect data and how they should respond to an event. While all employees need to understand these policies, HR professionals especially need to be familiar with them.
Many HR professionals have experience with developing policies and procedures. They also understand employee behaviours and the policies to minimise these risks. HR can use this knowledge to help create policies that will protect the company’s data.
HR already leads your company culture
Cyber security awareness means that each person within the organisation understands the importance of cyber security and knows their role in protecting themselves and the business from threats. A cyber security culture should start with the business’ leaders. HR leaders, in particular, are figures for promoting company culture. Their influence should extend into promoting a culture that prioritises cyber security.
They can set up training sessions and ensure people have access to the resources needed. They are also in an ideal position to ensure that all departments in the business are on the same page.
By promoting a cyber security culture, HR leaders can help protect the company’s data and reputation. Cyber security is not something that HR can ignore – it’s a critical issue they must address.
How Layer 8 supports your cyber security initiatives
Cyber criminals have numerous access points to exploit, with many people handling more data or working in a distributed team. Our Cyber Awareness Programs ensure your team evolves from cyber vulnerabilities to your first line of defence. Visit our Cyber Security Awareness page for more on our offering.
