As we celebrate the last week in Cybersecurity Awareness Month let’s take a moment and make a commitment to cybersecurity first. The NCSA tells us cybersecurity first means:

“For businesses, this means building security into products and processes. Make cybersecurity training a part of employee onboarding and equip staff with the tools they need to keep the organization safe. For individuals, keep cybersecurity at the forefront of your mind as you connect daily. Before purchasing a device or online product, do your research. When you set up a new device or app, consider your security and privacy settings and update default passwords. Cybersecurity should not be an afterthought.”

Make it your business culture

The culture of a business plays a critical role in being cyber secure. It is important to examine the leadership team’s thoughts on cybersecurity along with the employees’ thoughts on it. Is there a desire to embrace cybersecurity first and make it part of the business’s culture? Will there be a buy-in from the employees?

Put it in everything

Is cybersecurity a part of everything your business does? Do you have business policies written with protecting your data, customers, and employees in mind? Are there business processes in place to support your policies? When you hire new employees, does the onboarding include any cybersecurity training? Do you annually train your employees on cybersecurity? How do you show cybersecurity matters to your customers?

Create a new habit

When you make cybersecurity first and put cybersecurity into everything you do, cybersecurity becomes a habit. You no longer have to make an emphasis to do cybersecurity, you just do it. It will become part of who you are and what your business is about!

Thanks for joining us all month long while we focus on Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Look for new topics next month! For more on cybersecurity check out Small Business Big Threat!

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