August 23 2017 - Employees often pose the biggest threat to a company's information security. It only takes one wrong click of a button to affect a business's security, finances and reputation.

It is an employer's responsibility to provide their employees with the knowledge they need to protect their infrastructure, while an employee must ensure they adhere to an internal policy. We are therefore providing the five things all employees should know about information security.

A Strong Password

Cybercriminals are looking for vulnerabilities within a company's infrastructure, and a weak password can often be an open doorway to sensitive data. Employees must, therefore, encourage all members of staff to create a strong password that is a combination of letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and symbols. It must also be mandatory that all team members routinely change their passwords to protect information security. If an employee can easily remember their password, the likelihood is it isn't strong enough.

Reporting of a Security Incident

Every member of staff has a responsibility to report a network security breach as soon as possible. It is vital they report any suspicious emails, links, attachments or pop-up messages immediately. An employer or an IT technician can then isolate the cyber issue to prevent the problem from spiralling out of control.

Secure Your Paper Records

In addition to securing your digital data, you must take the necessary steps to protect your paper records too. There are criminals who will use techniques to steal your physical data. For instance, they may attempt to steal documents from a vehicle or otherwise use a telephone phishing scam to gain access to your information. Employees must, therefore, remain vigilant over the phone and when transporting confidential documents.

A Smart Disposal Solution

Paper shredding machines do not guarantee that your files have been successfully destroyed. It is therefore advisable to invest in a secure destruction service, which can provide document shredding in a locked collection container. An employer must, therefore, create an internal security policy which states that all employees must dispose of all documents using a secure collection container.

In addition to securely disposing of paper records, companies must also turn to a secure data recovery service to remove data and wipe a hard drive clean, before disposing of an electrical device.

Data Protection is a Team Effort

One individual or department is not responsible for a company's information security. Every employee must view data protection as a team effort, as they must follow a security policy, make any helpful suggestions and report any potential breaches. The more employers discuss information security with their staff, the safer a business will be.

Nothing is more valuable to a business than its data, which is why every member of an organization has a responsibility to protect it. A failure to do so could not only pose a risk to a business's operations, but it could also allow employee, client and customer information to fall into the wrong hands.