According to new study, your tech-savvy younger staff may be your largest vulnerability when it comes to cyber security threats.
Shocked? Let’s go into the specifics.
More than 6,500 employees from throughout the world were asked, with about equal demographic representation. The findings were very concerning.
According to the survey, younger office workers, those under the age of 40, are more inclined to disregard normal password safety standards. Can you believe that 34% of those under 40 admitted to using their birth dates as passwords, whereas just 19% of those over 40 did?
It doesn’t end there.
Younger workers were also more likely to use the same password across several devices, with 38% confessing to doing so.
And let’s not even get started on phishing scams. A stunning 23% of the younger group did not disclose the most recent phishing attempt they received. What is their reasoning? “I didn’t think it was important” .
But they must be aware of the seriousness of security dangers to enterprises, right? No, not exactly.
While 23% and 22% of employees, respectively, identified ransomware and phishing as important risks, the general attitude toward cyber security left much to be desired.
The shocking part is that an astonishing proportion of respondents surveyed stated that their businesses did not give any obligatory cyber security awareness training.
From the US (30%) to the UK (17%), Netherlands (32%), Japan (35%), India (31%), Germany (22%), France (43%), Australia (29%) and China (65%) – the numbers speak for themselves.
So, should we really blame our youthful workers when it’s evident that employers aren’t doing enough to train their staff in cyber security?
It’s high time we stopped treating cyber security as an afterthought and started investing in regular cyber awareness training for everyone in our businesses. Yes, every single employee, not just the IT team or the bosses.
At the end of the day, it’s not just about safeguarding your company; it’s about making the digital world a safer place for everyone.
We can help you do that.