Younger people who watch “Stranger Things” on Netflix may wonder why the parents portrayed on the show don’t buckle up their children in cars. Unfortunately, that’s the way things were in the early 1980s.
Compare that to requiring employees to authenticate themselves in multiple ways to gain access to the applications they use at work. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) may seem like overkill to those not used to it—just like seatbelts did 35 years ago—but it will become the norm, and I suspect many organizations will look back and wonder why they didn’t implement it sooner. MFA practices, like seatbelts, don’t prevent catastrophe, but they go a long way toward tipping the odds in your favor.
Multi-factor authentication is just one example of how a company can build a workplace culture where security is understood, valued, and practiced every single day. Building a culture of security could also include conducting random phishing exercises to help employees understand—without being punitive—how to avoid inadvertently opening a malicious email; providing policies and education about keeping unattended computers locked; and providing tips for how people can stay aware and diligent in their online lives. Workday’s Chief Trust Officer Josh DeFigueiredo talks more building a culture of security in this video.