The behaviors of young employees

A recent study has shown that the younger workforce is a bit too relaxed when it comes to cybercrime. Between the ages of 16-19, these young employees may think of themselves as tech savvy, and some have worrying online behavior that has been relatively normalized among their generation. This includes piracy, online tracking and trolling. These are definitely unhealthy practices, and you should know about them before your young employees bring it in to the workplace.

You may think that online trolling won’t affect your business. It’s not your problem is a young employee is leaving bad comments on a YouTube video. That said – it’s the pattern of dangerous online behavior that you should be wary of. An employee illegally downloading a piece of software on a business computer could have major consequences to your business, and if a young person is doing this with a false sense of confidence because “they do this all the time”, you need to be extra careful.

So what can you as a business owner do?

We are HUGE fans of cyber security training. We recommend having an interactive training program that engages your employees instead of the usual death by power point. You want your staff to stay engaged and not let the warnings go in one ear and out the other. These trainings should teach the repercussions of bad online behavior and help your employees understand how it can harm people and businesses. You should also not be afraid to highlight the consequences for anyone doing engaging in these practices. Ambiguity is just a loophole that your staff can use to point the finger away from themselves. Clearly state what will happen to an employee is they are being a danger to the business. You should take these actions seriously, because it may just cost you your business.

We are always here to discuss cyber security in more detail. It’s one of our favorite things to talk about! Keeping businesses safe is why we are in business. If you need help, get in touch.