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Baseball season has begun, hockey is closing in on playoff season, football is just around the corner — and sports betting is now legal in Ohio. It’s the perfect potion to entice some employees to place a bet using company computers.

While it might seem harmless to spend a few minutes doing something that isn’t work-related, it can lead to your company becoming a victim of cyberattacks. This could include hacking into and sharing important records or having ransomware installed on your system, which could cripple the company.

Among the most popular cybercrimes attached to sports betting is targeting phishing, in which the client receives an email prompting them to “click here” to place another bet or take advantage of an incentive. Clicking on that button enables criminals to access your system.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take to protect the company.

• Create an acceptable use policy that reminds employees how they are permitted to use their employer-issued technology.
• Multi-factor authentication: Install phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication, which calls for two or more authentication factors identifying a user before granting access to your network. Such software checks for bad actors and can block their entry. Make authentication mandatory.
• Boost Awareness: Include the risk of online betting in annual anti-cyberattack training. The best approach is to make regular phishing simulations mandatory to encourage the human firewall, which can often be your weakest link.

Digital Natives, Gen Z and millennials tend to take cybersecurity at work less seriously than on their personal devices, according to a recent report. Having grown up with technology, younger generations often think of technology as safe, rather than a risky tool.

• Turn off the browser’s password saver and consider a password management application. There are other ways to remember passwords.
• Implement URL filtering, also referred to as content filtering. This allows companies to block particular categories of websites, such as sports betting. Several different tools offer content filtering, including firewalls and DNS filters, such as Cisco Umbrella. Providers generally have a standard set of categories of websites that can be blocked by the filter. You can add categories or specific sites to your configuration.

Even with these steps in place, employees will make mistakes. Create a work environment in which employees feel safe enough to admit they made a mistake without retribution. The earlier you know about the potential hack, the faster you can repair the damage or cut off the cybercriminal before they’ve had a chance to gain access.

Good cyber hygiene is critical for any company and is an evolving journey.

This article originally appeared on toledoblade.com.

For more information, visit our Cyber Risk page or contact:

Lacy Rex
VP, Cyber Strategic Leader
Oswald Companies
Email

(Sources: ey.com)

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