Cybersecurity Myths – It’s not my responsibility

Even with the gradual increase in cybersecurity literacy amongst the masses, there are still some myths that people follow religiously, even Cybersecurity professionals. I will set out to bust some of those myths here. Many of the myths have come from companies advertising products as a “silver bullet” solution, some of the myths are because the world has changed and the advice is no longer valid. Cybersecurity myths can be spread by well-meaning people, but you need to consider them with a “pinch of salt”.

In this series of posts about cybersecurity myths, I reveal some common areas of belief, and what you need to do.

My company has an IT department, so the company security is their responsibility.

Cyber threats are always changing, and not every IT department can keep up with every possible vulnerability or attack vector. Whilst they may maintain the firewalls, patch systems, update anti-virus and apply security policies to every computer, the IT department needs help from everyone. The responsibility for security is with everyone, as the risk vectors are from what IT cannot control – your behaviours.

You need to apply the updates that your computer prompts you to perform, including restarting your computer. You also need to take the responsibility to follow published company policies and procedures about security and proper practices when it comes to using both company equipment and your own stuff.

The threat often comes from the user – so help out your IT department and don’t be the weakest link.