It is time to get in the ring and fight back against social engineering. We outlined for you, in part one of this blog series, what red flags you should look for when you receive an email, but that is not the only tool you have at your disposal. We are going to walk you through how you can set yourself up for success from start to finish.
With the proper training and preparation, you will have the strength and agility you need to knock social engineering cyberattacks out cold. Let’s get started.
Test Your Knowledge! How Well Do You Think You Know Social Engineering? Start Here.
To succeed in the ring against cyberattacks, you will adopt a 3-pronged approach of policy, technical defense, and training that you can use to protect your organization.
Your Cybersecurity Policies
Protecting your business begins with the policies you enact. The specific policies your business needs and how you will structure them will depend upon the type of work you do and how your business is built. In general, you will want to consider the following.
Acceptable use policy
This policy provides a general code of conduct for everyone who can access sensitive business information, from employees to contractors. You will outline steps, such as locking your desktop when stepping away from your desk. Make sure everyone involved in your business signs.
Other important policies
Depending upon your type of business, you might include other standard policies, such as steps to follow to verify a request for sensitive information. You might also have policies about downloading software, such as what types are and are not allowed on work computers.
Thwarting Social Engineering With Technology
What makes social engineering so popular and detrimental is that it targets individual vulnerabilities. There is no substitute for training your staff. However, there are some tools that can help reduce the likelihood and the impact of an attack.
Malware mitigation strategies
This category includes software, such as anti-virus protection. These applications must be maintained and kept consistently up to date.
Content filtering
Content filters scan incoming content (like emails) for anything perceived as a threat or odd or suspicious. They can also be used to prevent employees from navigating to different websites that are commonly malicious.
Identification services
Identification services label messages with red flags, using warnings such as SPAM or Possible Phishing. The notification gives employees an immediate signal to be on alert when they open the message. We use one at Deerwood Technologies that lets us know when an email is generated from out of our network. This works great for thwarting some types of social engineering attempts.
Reputation services
A reputation service filter will look at the URL pathway, the domain, or the Internet Protocol (IP) address of incoming traffic or content to determine if it should be allowed. Some material will be blocked based on its origins.
The tools that will work best for you depend on a number of factors. Work with cybersecurity specialists to determine the best cybersecurity strategy for your organization.
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The Importance of Easy Reporting
Regardless of training and cybersecurity tools in place, it’s vital that you make it easy for users to report potential phishing or other social engineering attempts. They are your eyes and ears and a key line of defense. This empowers employees and gives them a straightforward course of action when encountering something suspicious. It also leads to training opportunities for other staff members.
Social Engineering Training: Endurance, Strength, Success
In the ring, someone who focuses too much on technique but fails to account for endurance will see their strategy fall apart by the end of the match. When it comes to cybersecurity, you also need endurance training to help your business stay strong for the long haul.
Training, however, is where many businesses fall short.
Rigorous training follows a cycle. It pushes your employees and forces them to use what they learn so they have the strength to see this fight through.
You will provide your employees with baseline testing to see how they perform. After instruction, you retest your team to gauge their results. The testing should employ increasingly challenging simulations to keep employees looking for suspicious activity.
This cybersecurity training builds a culture of cybersecurity and success. Employees will feel comfortable questioning odd emails, calling each other directly if they think a request seems strange, and working together to protect the business.
Deerwood Technologies Is Your Training Partner in Cybersecurity
Deerwood Technologies is here to provide your business with the training and support you need to keep your business safe. We can help you manage your technical defenses and build your strength and endurance so your employees are ready for the ring.