Spectre, Meltdown, WannaCry—oh my! Today’s computer security is about so much more than avoiding suspicious email attachments that could contain a virus or a worm (remember ILOVEYOU?). Now there’s ransomware, spyware, phishing, pharming, spoofing, hacking, phreaking—these may sound like 80s dance moves, but each is a unique security threat to your company’s network, coupled with now serious and widespread processor security flaws impacting computers, tablets, and smartphones everywhere.

So should your company be concerned about cybersecurity? Darn tootin’.

The good news is, you can arm your employees to reduce your chances of a security breach. How about a regular video training that begins at onboarding? Best to start early; your employees are your first line of cybersecurity defense, after all.

Train employees to ask questions like:

• Is the sender’s email address legitimate? Is the email from someone the employee recognizes? When the cursor is hovered over the sender’s address, does it show a different email address?
• Is this a typical email I would receive from this sender? Remember that ILOVEYOU virus? Curiosity got the better of people when they saw an attachment professing love. But they might have stopped to ask if their boss, coworker, or college roommate they hadn’t heard from in a decade would want to communicate such a message.
• Is the domain in the email address legitimate? That email that seems to be coming from amazon.com may actually be coming from amazom.com or amazon.credit.com, neither of which is the real Amazon.
• Is this information an organization would ask for via email? Legitimate organizations won’t ask for passwords, credit information, social security numbers, and the like through an email. If an employee receives a suspicious request, it’s best to call the company’s verified phone number to discuss.
• Is this too good to be true? An email, webpage, or social media post with an offer that looks too good to be true probably is, and clicking it or entering personal information could be harmful.

Remind employees to never click a link or attachment that they’re not absolutely certain is valid. Also train employees to immediately report suspicious email to the IT Department. And finally, consider adding a cybersecurity policy to the employee handbook, with guidelines for IT assets and mobile devices, access control, antivirus maintenance, and contractors, vendors, and outsourcing. (And if you have questions about what should be in your company’s employee handbook, we at YES! Your Human Resources Solution, Orange County’s premier HR consulting firm, can guide you!) For even greater security, combine cybersecurity with a Bring Your Own Device Policy. A little proactive investment in your company’s cybersecurity can help prevent a massive reactive investment!