Companies that want to help their employees become better stewards of cybersecurity need to go beyond regular trainings on password security and other basic protocols. The best way to train employees to defend against hackers is to teach them how to think like one.
Train Your Employees to Think Like Hackers
The best way to train employees to defend against hackers is to teach them how to think like one. Start by forgetting everything the media and entertainment industry has told you about hackers. The media has a history of sensationalizing the term by using it to denote cybercriminals. It may sell newspapers and increase viewership, but it is also a narrow view. In many ways, hackers are the model citizens of the digital era. They are creative, persistent, and resourceful. They think in digital terms and have the curiosity and drive to figure out how technology works. You can start cultivating a hacker mindset by encouraging employees to attend hackathons — even if only to observe. For more hands-on cybersecurity learning, arrange company-wide competitions and games that encourage employees to figure out how cybercrime could potentially happen. You can even take it a step further and role play a fictitious cyber incident. Acting out a breach scenario can help employees better relate to organizational risk and inspire a new level of mindfulness when it comes to cybersecurity.