Cybersecurity is one of the major risk areas for businesses of all sizes and a frequent examination and enforcement priority for regulators. The challenges posed by cybersecurity are diverse and serious – data privacy, breaches of sensitive customer or employee information, business continuity, reputational risk due to information leaks or data loss, physical and financial damage to IT network or infrastructure, and more.

Addressing these threats posed by possible cyberattacks or security weaknesses is very important for organizations, but all protective measures rely upon engagement of employees in accomplishing this objective. Obtaining this engagement requires effective communication to employees to raise their awareness and encourage their understanding of the daily objective at hand.

• Make relevant policies accessible, relatable, and easy to understand: In order for employees to understand their responsibilities in a cybersecurity program, the governing policies and procedures must be simple and straightforward. The policies should be easy to locate on the organization’s intranet or in the policies manual or employee handbook. They should be written in plain English and provide the essential information and guidance necessary for employees to understand what they must do to protect the company and themselves. Individual objectives and obligations should be highlighted and reinforced by line managers.
• Connect cybersecurity program to stakeholder commitments: For all employees who are not IT professionals, the risks inherent to and controls necessary for cybersecurity may seem abstract. However, there are fundamental organizational values which can be concretely attached to the objectives of a cybersecurity program. Taking the privacy of customer and/or employee data seriously is not an esoteric concept; this is important to every employee on a personal level. Being trustworthy and transparent about this goal, likewise, is something everyone can support for the good of the organization. Establish a connection between the goals of the cybersecurity program and the company’s stakeholders such as customers, business partners, and regulators/supervisors. Emphasizing these duties will enable employees to see how important cybersecurity controls are to those relationships.
• Set expectations for personal responsibility: As with all compliance risk topics, the tone at the top is critical to establishing the mood in the middle and the buzz at the bottom. Employees will not become prioritize a topic unless leadership clearly and sensibly advocates for its importance. Senior management should express that each person working in an organization has individual accountability for protecting the company from cybersecurity risks and attacks. An employee’s responsibilities may seem minor or not worth publicizing, but these practical measures are often the most fundamental in keeping the organization’s IT systems secure.
• Emphasize conduct and basic good practices: Every compliance program begins at the beginning. The building blocks of security protections must be strong starting at the most fundamental measures. Advanced protocols and encryption methods are not the message to take to the general employee population. Rather, focus on their own individual conduct and best daily practices, such as caution with data handling to avoid human error like inadvertent e-mails or lost devices and files. It is imperative that the workforce understands and takes responsibility for managing these simple, widespread risks from their own behavior.
• Publicize successes and take action on failures: The organizational message of open seriousness about cybersecurity risks should be consistent. When there are successes – such as proactive identification and remediation of a security weakness without a data breach, or improvement in employee conduct around reporting phishing emails – publicize them and discuss them. Positive reinforcement is key. However, when there are failures – such as the detection of an unauthorized intrusion or a string of employees losing laptops and flash drives – then these too should be communicated broadly and acted upon promptly. In this case it is not negative reinforcement but rather directed analysis to improve in the areas which current evidence shows need the most work.

With all the broad landscape of cybersecurity risks in view, and the methods and objectives of cyberattackers evolving continually, control frameworks for cybersecurity will remain an ongoing project in compliance programs.   Creating and maintaining basic employee awareness of and sensitivity to these risks is crucial to ensure that all other controls can be as effective as possible