Almost every person on the Earth is going digital and hence getting connected with other people or systems. While using digital/online platforms, we all ensure to protect ourselves and also the systems we are relying on. The activities of cyber criminals are increasing like wildfire. Actually, they are taking advantage of companies’ ignorant attitudes towards basic cyber security.
Thus, businesses from every industry must work to safeguard their resources and make no compromise on prevention against hackers and scammers. Any delay in ensuring cybersecurity in your company will leave you with great losses, so you must prioritise cybersecurity awareness and training.
What is CyberSecurity? – An Overview
As per Cambridge Dictionary, ” Cybersecurity is the things which are done to protect a person, organisation, or country and their computer information against crime or attacks carried out using the internet.”
It includes defending computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks. Cybersecurity comprises security on the network, application, information, operational, disaster recovery and business continuity.
The Australian statistics of cybersecurity indicate a rise in cybersecurity issues. In fact, since January, people over the age of 65 have reported the most losses to scams.
In terms of cyber security, the human element continues to drive breaches, with 82% of all breaches involving the use of stolen credentials, phishing, or simply an error. In addition, ransomware continued to trend in 2024, like in previous years. Another interesting fact is that since 2021, there has been an 85% increase in online scams in education, healthcare, and the government sector.
What are the major cybersecurity issues?
Here are common cyber security threats as per ACSC.
- Hacking: Here, unauthorised access or network often exploits a system or manipulates its normal behaviour.
- Identity theft, where cybercriminal gains access to your personal information and steal money or gain other benefits.
- Malicious insiders(someone from the company like employees, contractors or business associates who have legitimate access) destroy the company’s data and systems.
- Malware is where cybercriminals gain access to your computer without you knowing.
- Ransomware is malware software that makes your computer files closed or unable to open unless you pay for them.
- Phishing: Here, cybercriminals steal confidential information, such as online banking login, credit card details, etc.
- Online Scams are done by real-looking companies who work to get bank details and access them for withdrawal or transfer.
- Cryptomining malware: Here, cybercriminals use crypto mining malware to try and hack into people’s computers and use their computer’s processing power.
- Data spill is where the computer system can be hacked, and personal data/ information is made public or spilled.
- Distributed denial of service (DDoS), which makes an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic.
When is Computer Security Day?
Computer Security Day is an annual event held on November 30th. This day is observed to bring together international and local IT and security professionals to share their experiences and suggestions on how to protect an organisation’s most valuable asset(data) while also raising awareness about best practices in information security. On this day, many conferences and seminars, both online and offline, are done to gain knowledge and keep the public up to date on the latest innovations in the field of information security.
What is the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)?
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is a part of the Australian government dedicated to strengthening cyber security and making Australia the safest place to interact online.
ACSC also ensures collaborative efforts between government, corporate, and academic partners, as well as specialists from Australia and throughout the world, to study and create solutions to cybersecurity issues. ACSC also monitors cyber dangers throughout the world 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and offers guidance and information on how to safeguard oneself and one’s business online.
Furthermore, the ACSC collaborates with law enforcement to combat cybercrime and finally achieve cyber security excellence.
October- The Cyber Security Awareness Month 2023
In Australia, every October month is celebrated as Cybersecurity Awareness Month. This serves as an annual reminder for all Australians to stay secure online and protect all their data and resources. The prominent theme for 2023 is ‘Have you been hacked?’ however, the Cyber Awareness Month 2023 theme runs differently each week where
Week 1 – “Have you been hacked?” [ ACSC has launched the ‘Have you been hacked?’ tool to assess whether a person has become hacked so far.]
Week 2 – “Is your email secure?”
Week 3 – “How do you act now to stay secure?”
Week 4- “It’s time to take action.
How can you stay safe from cyber security threats?
To stay safe and secure online, you should follow the basics of cybersecurity which are the major preventive measures against cybercrimes or attacks. Here are some major and simple steps you can take to ensure your cybersecurity.
- Strong physical security is always the first step in cybersecurity.
- Implement multi-factor authentication on your account.
- Detect and discard phishing emails.
- Use strong passwords and implement password management tools for password-related activities.
- Always update your software and systems.
- Look out for the “Best IT Support near me” to help you back up your data.
- Always secure your wifi networks and hide them.
- Invest in and install a high-quality firewall.
- Train your staff about cybersecurity issues and their vigilance for them.
Why is it important to provide cyber security awareness training for employees?
Cybersecurity threats not only make a company lose important documents and data but they eventually contribute to fading the brand reputation and soaring financial losses. To avoid this, educating and training employees about cybersecurity is necessary.
Moreover, cybersecurity awareness training is used by both small businesses and large enterprises to reduce the risk of human errors leading to data breaches. This training is primarily intended to help businesses recognise cyber threats, avoid potentially harmful actions, and take necessary steps to protect their company.
Physical security for company devices, identifying suspicious emails, ransomware, network security, etc. are some examples of cybersecurity awareness training topics.
With these cybersecurity awareness training programs, companies can teach employees to understand vulnerabilities and threats to business operations, recognise major cyber threats and follow all the measures to ensure strong computer security.
In addition, employees must understand their responsibilities and accountabilities when using a computer on a business network. Newly hired employees must also be trained in cybersecurity to instil the organisation’s data security culture. You can look for government-recommended cybersecurity awareness resources such as digital posters and guidance materials to help them know more about cybersecurity.
Is there any cybersecurity awareness training?
Yes, there are many. Among them, the Australian government-recognised training is BSBSS00094. BSBSS00094(Cyber Security Awareness Skill Set) offers skills and knowledge to assist an organisation in improving cyber threat awareness and protecting against cyber risk across a broad range of industries. The units credit you to qualifications in the BSB Business Services Training Packages.
BSBSS00094 skill set contributes to the majority of Certificate IV level government generalist and specialist qualifications.
Skill Set Requirements for BSBSS00094 include:
- BSBXCS301-Protect own personal online profile from cyber security threats
- BSBXCS302- Identify and report online security threats.
- BSBXCS303-Securely manage personally identifiable information and workplace information
- BSBXCS402-Promote workplace cyber security awareness and best practices
Those working in a broad range of industries and having a role in engaging in cyber security threat assessments and protection against cyber security risk can be the best candidates for this training.
In fact, many Australian educational and IT institutions also provide cybersecurity awareness training and workshops (in accordance with ACSC and Australian government guidelines) that include a variety of cyber-safe practical activities and demonstrations relevant to an organisation’s environment. These organisations tailor their cybersecurity awareness program to the needs of the business and employees.
NSW IT Support’s CyberSecurity Services
As a leading IT Support company in Australia, we understand how important it is to protect sensitive information and focus on security controls, backup, and healthy online practices. We believe that to have strong national cybersecurity in Australia, small, big or medium-scale- every business must work for safer practices and follow the guidelines of the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
Talking about our cybersecurity services, we have next-generation Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Protection to continuously monitor and protect your business. NSWIT Support has a committed team and advanced tools to run vulnerability scans, investigate, provide root cause analysis, begin rapid service recovery, keep your systems tuned to peak performance and resolve issues.
All in all, we offer 24×7 monitoring of your networks, endpoints, and cloud environments to help you detect, respond and recover from cyber threats. In addition, we are experts in backup systems management and disaster recovery planning as we have strong Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) System Administration. Further, our clients are provided with monthly reports to measure our cybersecurity performance and plan for your future IT and cybersecurity needs.
So, if you are looking for a great IT Support company that provides overall IT Support service, including cybersecurity, then you can contact us.
