Why Cybersecurity Is Now A More Important Topic Than Ever For Remote Sales Teams

Regular training is an important part of employee development and is the best way to educate your team on best practices. This is particularly true when it comes to cybersecurity for your remote sales team.

Unfortunately, human error and poor security measures account for a lot of data breaches and if your sales team don’t know how to recognise a threat, how can they report or put a stop to the problem?

If you have a remote sales team, strong cybersecurity and subsequently strong training, are even more important for a number of reasons. 

In this guide, we’re going to look at why cybersecurity training is so vital for remote sales teams and why you need to ensure you’re offering your employees plenty of opportunities to train and upskill.

1. Remote working increases cybersecurity risks

The sad reality is, there are several reasons why remote working poses a bigger threat to your business’s cybersecurity efforts. This is because: 

 

• Without the safety of an office and the security systems, it affords such as a secured network, firewalls, blacklisted IP addresses and more, remote working increases the risk of a cybersecurity attack

 

• Not to mention when working remotely you can’t simply approach a member of the IT or security team in-person to report any issues, quickly

 

• Plus there is heightened criminal activity targeted at remote workers and their unsecured devices and networks right now

 

• This is because we rely heavily on cloud-based tools and the internet when working remotely, all of which can be gateways for cybercriminals to get access to your system or infect it with harmful malware

 

This increased risk is one of the key reasons why cybersecurity training is so important for remote businesses and their workforce. 

2. Hackers are exploiting the remote workforce 

Following on from the point above, if 2020 taught us anything, it’s the importance of the remote workforce. But sadly, it also proved that there are a lot of cybercriminals out there who are ready to exploit remote workers. 

Identifying this increase in people working from home and knowing that many businesses have yet to set up effective remote security measures and policies, remote workers have become a much easier target for hackers. 

By offering regular cybersecurity training to your remote employees, you can help them fight back against hackers and be more aware of the signs they need to look out for. 

3. Training can tighten your security systems 

You can invest in all the latest security features and service providers you want but if your sales team is completely clueless about cybersecurity, you’re still at risk. 

By keep staff up to date on cybersecurity best practices and what to look out for, you can reduce the risk of a human error leading to a breach. 

Security training can be a great preventative measure that tightens your efforts and keeps your data and devices safe. So don’t neglect this important part of your overall cybersecurity strategy. 

4. Knowledge can boost employee confidence and reduce stress

Work can be stressful enough at times without constantly worrying that you’re going to commit a cybersecurity faux pas or become the victim of hacking. For this reason, equipping your employees with more knowledge of cybersecurity is crucial.  

This can help to boost their confidence on the subject, which in turn can lead to reduced stress levels and anxiety around cybersecurity. 

Not only this but employees who feel empowered through training are less likely to make the types of silly mistakes that could lead to a breach. They’ll be more alert and therefore more likely to notice an issue before it becomes a problem. 

For example, they’ll be better equipped to recognise phishing emails or if there has been suspicious login behaviour on your website. 

Ultimately, you want your workers to feel comfortable and relaxed working remotely and to feel confident they’re doing everything right. Training can be the key to boosting their productivity whilst also mitigating cybersecurity risks. 

5. Training could save you time and money in the long run 

Security breaches are not only very inconvenient but they can also be very costly. Especially in the era of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) where a data breach could see you facing hefty fines if not dealt with quickly and efficiently. 

Because of this, it’s a lot more cost-effective to invest in cybersecurity training before it’s too late, rather than having to try and chase your tail covering the cost of an expensive data breach. Ultimately, prevention is better than cure and training staff to spot the signs can stop an attack before it happens. Even if you do have to invest a small amount of your budget in these training efforts. 

And the same rules apply for time. 

A security breach can take a lot of time and energy to put right, time that could be better spent getting on with actual work! So though you might need to take some time out for training, this time will be much less and far better spent than time wasted trying to rectify a data breach.

6. Working behaviours are different when working remotely 

Last on the list and ultimately another reason why remote work poses a larger cybersecurity threat, is the fact that workers behave differently when working remotely. 

Away from the gaze of their boss, employees might be using their devices for multiple tasks. Devices that, whether their own or from the company, contain sensitive information. 

They might be conducting tasks such as checking personal emails or doing their online shopping from this same device. This could increase the risk of them falling victim to a phishing email or fake website scam and the device and sensitive data becoming compromised or at risk. 

Offering cybersecurity training and more awareness around the subject means they might think twice before using work devices to shop, click unknown links or visit unsecured sites. Knowing the risks and being aware of the signs also means they’ll have cybersecurity best practices in mind at all times, whether working or doing personal errands.