THE INSTITUTE During the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many organizations to transition from office work to working from home. The initial shift created an increase in cyberattacks, though, as cybercriminals tried to exploit weak network security.

A recent attack on Colonial Pipeline, for example, disrupted the company’s gasoline supplies. The pipeline’s operator paid US $4.4 million in Bitcoin to get its data back, according to news reports.

With workers beginning to return to the office either full time or on a hybrid work schedule, companies could be more at risk of cyberattacks. In a recent Tessian survey, 56 percent of IT leaders said employees established bad cybersecurity habits while working remotely. The survey also found that leaders are increasingly worried about ransomware attacks. Many organizations and government agencies are reassessing their cybersecurity protocols.

Ekram Ahmed, spokesman for cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies, told Vox, “We’re seeing a staggering 102 percent overall increase in the number of organizations affected by ransomware this year, compared to the beginning of 2020.”

PROTECTING YOUR DATA

“Cybersecurity training should be a part of the onboarding process for all new employees,” IT Governance says, “and include examples of security incidents and the details of colleagues to contact if they think they have fallen victim” to an attack. Organizations also should conduct regular simulated phishing attacks to ensure employee awareness, experts say.

IEEE Educational Activities has partnered with ISACA, an international professional association focused on IT governance, to offer the ISACA Cybersecurity Nexus (CSX) training platform to organizations as a partner solution that complements IEEE’s research, standards, and education programs.

The CSX program provides real-world cybersecurity training to help professionals identify and mitigate potential cyberattacks through hands-on, performance-based courses in a live network environment. The on-demand program is presented in a self-paced format.

The CSX platform includes:

Instructional courses and labs in a sandbox environment that safely replicates the world practitioners work in every day. The courses enable technical teams to build, practice, and test their skills in a live environment.
Technical skill-set training, from beginner to advanced.
A dashboard to review team performance, with real-time progress-tracking.
More than 300continuing professional education credit hours that can be applied toward earning the CSX cybersecurity practitioner certification as well as similar credentials.

Learn how you can help your IT professionals and other employees build critical cybersecurity skills with the CSX platform.

A CSX on-demand session offers an understanding of current cybersecurity trends and can help you determine the level of cyberthreats to your organization.

Johanna Perez is a digital marketing specialist for IEEE Educational Activities.

IEEE membership offers a wide range of benefits and opportunities for those who share a common interest in technology. If you are not already a member, consider joining IEEE and becoming part of a worldwide network of more than 400,000 students and professionals.

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