Listen up: Training starts right now

Data breaches still aren't real unless you have faced one. Phishing attacks are still an idea in cyberspace unless you have had one.

Two University of Cincinnati professors writing in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency management say that too many establishments downplay the danger of cyberattacks because they haven't experienced one. "The general population must be engaged as active security providers, not simply beneficiaries of security policy, because their practices often create the threats to which government responds," say Richard Harknett and James Stever of the school's political science department.

The problem is that anyone can get on the Internet without any training, sort of like driving without a driver's license. Without knowing even simple precautions of PC security, it's easy to fall prey to the bad guys surfing the Internet looking for a vulnerable site.

"Most users remain unaware that not only is their computer data vulnerable, but that their insecure access to cyberspace can be exploited by others turning them into unwitting agents of coordinated cyber threats [both criminal and disruptive attacks],"they say. "Cybersecurity must become a national civic responsibility."

Many people don't recognize an attack when they see one or a more menacing threat that can taken their systems down. That goes for individuals and for companies as well.

 The answer, of course, is training. And if you do not have a strong training session embedded into your system, you are leaving your site vulnerable every step of the way.

For more on better security protections:
- see this CIO.com article

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