As I step out of our London office at lunchtime, I’m bombarded with establishments that promote ‘wellness’ in their description. From the £12 salad bar to the yoga and meditation studio, the nail salon to the library, I’m faced with a plethora of options to contribute to my physical, social, mental or intellectual wellbeing. In post-pandemic times, it seems we’ve put more focus on making sure we have a balanced lifestyle.
Wellness doesn’t stop in the physical world. Our wellbeing online is also being taken into question: how can we ensure users feel safe online? How can we help them to feel a sense of belonging and empowerment? How can we make sure that even if a user does make a mistake, it doesn’t put other users at risk? Cyber wellness involves not only general digital literacy and access but an understanding of how to collaborate and efficiently communicate while staying protected against threats.
Businesses are dealing with an unprecedented amount of stress and burnout. Users, their data and their devices are everywhere, making it easier for malicious actors to trick employees through social engineering into handing over sensitive corporate information. In a recent webinar hosted by Jamf, a panel of cybersecurity experts analysed aspects of the current threat landscape in what they dubbed a ‘stress epidemic’. According to the panellists, stress can lead to errors and compromised judgment, as well as reduced threat awareness. Actions to reduce stress and incorporate mindfulness at work can make employees more alert to cybersecurity attacks. The webinar featured Nedbank, a financial institution in South Africa, where a mindful security campaign resulted in a reduction of 70% of phishing clicks in 3 months. This result shows that managing stress can greatly improve responsiveness to danger, as long as users are educated on what to watch out for and have the efficient technical tools to support their efforts.
Building resilience through education
An important aspect of cyber wellness is having digital literacy and awareness to stay safe online. Users must be able to identify threats and exercise caution when doing their day-to-day tasks, not just on computers but on mobile devices, too. Developing employees’ critical thinking and ability to make good decisions is key for companies that want to stay productive while avoiding cyberattacks.
Regular cybersecurity awareness training that covers a variety of best practices is essential not only for the end users. Developers, IT teams, HR and C-level executives face particular challenges in their line of business and could be targeted directly by sophisticated spyware designed to steal sensitive information. Companies must take responsibility for continuously educating employees to recognise and deal with threats, with a combination of formal training and regular communication on security news and trends.
Putting Mobile Security at the forefront
Despite businesses’ best intentions and education initiatives, mobile attacks are rising. Mobile devices provide a unique set of risks due to the flexibility to join networks on the go and the possibility of loss and theft. Despite this, securing mobile devices often doesn’t get included in security strategies – failing to identify that mobile devices can be a gateway into a business. It only takes one user to be tricked into handing over their cloud credentials for sensitive business data to be compromised, leaving businesses with potential reputation, legal and financial risk.
Businesses must adopt mobile technologies that adapt to the ever-evolving threat landscape. As a starting point, companies must have a management tool to oversee their mobile fleet. Modern mobile device management (MDM) can enable critical settings and security features, keep devices updated, and wipe contents if a device gets lost or stolen. Access to business data and applications can be made simple and secure with Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). Moreover, with functionalities like split-tunnelling, personal and business data are treated separately, protecting privacy and preserving the user experience.
In parallel, a robust security solution is imperative to deal with sophisticated attacks and risky user behaviour because, let’s face it, there will always be someone that clicks on that link. By layering management with security seamlessly, companies can detect and eliminate threats and stay on top of potential attacks, giving employees the confidence to do their best work.
Jamf proudly sponsor The Cyber Mindfulness Corner