Shielding Your Community: Essential Cybersecurity Courses for the Public Housing Sector

You’re at your desk when the familiar tone of a new email sounds on your computer.

The email is from human resources, so you open it. You scan the message and see that it’s about some new policy changes taking effect immediately, with a link to read about the updates.

So, you click the link.

Rather than being taken to your company’s employee handbook, a malicious PDF opens, and malware infects your computer.

It's safe to say that these types of cybersecurity exposures impact businesses regularly, and public housing authorities (PHAs) aren't immune. Hackers target unsuspecting employees who may not expect to receive malicious files or be the target of such attacks; as such, you must have technological literacy to ensure it doesn’t happen to you or your organization. In fact, according to cybersecurity company Astra, 46% of cyberattacks target small businesses with 1,000 or fewer employees.

Unfortunately, some employees do not have access to cybersecurity training, preventing them from learning best practices to prevent attacks from occurring. According to a recent study by the National Cybersecurity Alliance, nearly two-thirds of study participants (64%) said they had zero access to cybersecurity training. This study, which polled 6,000 individuals in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, and New Zealand, also noted that 84% of participants found cybersecurity training useful.

HAI Group Online Training has curated several cybersecurity courses to prepare you and your team best to stay virus-free and away from hacking attacks. These courses—some of which are detailed below—can be taken at your convenience, at a time and location that works best for you.

Continue reading to get a glimpse of some of the courses available to subscribers, and free to HAI Group policyholders.

Email and Messaging Safety

According to Egress’ Email Security Risk Report 2024, the top three common phishing attacks are malicious URLs, attacks sent from compromised trusted third-party accounts (business email compromise), and malware or ransomware. The report, which aggregates statistics from 500 cybersecurity professionals, noted that 94% of organizations fell victim to phishing attacks, 79% of which originated via email.

Given the sensitive resident and employee data your PHA stores, it’s incumbent that you take precautions when opening emails and attached files to protect yourself and others.

Through this course, you will learn:

• How email threats operate.
• How to identify email fraud and phishing.
• Safe email and messaging practices.

Password Security

Suppose you use easily guessable passwords or reuse passwords on different websites and accounts. In that case, you are making it easier for hackers to overcome the first line of defense to your personal data and your PHA's internal systems.

According to Techopedia, 85% of people use the same passwords across multiple accounts and websites. And, in 2023, three in four people globally were at risk of being hacked because they relied on easily guessable passwords.

So, what are some of the most common passwords today? According to Reader’s Digest, “123456” is at the top of the list. Other passwords include “admin,” “12345678,” “password,” and “admin123.”

In the 15-minute Password Security course, you will receive an overview of password security and management. Upon completion, you will have:

• The basics of password security.
• The elements of a strong password.
• The understanding of how to create and maintain passwords.

HAI Group Online Training offers several cybersecurity courses in addition to the two identified above, which can help you and your team become more technologically literate at work and at home.

Courses include:

• Browser Security Basics: Understand browser security and ways to browse the web safely.
• Cybersecurity Overview: Learn how we are susceptible to cybercrime and the basics of cybersecurity.
• Protection Against Malware: Understand the types of malware, how malware works, and protective strategies against malware.

There are also several management-oriented courses available:

• Safeguarding Against Social Engineer Attacks: Understand the latest social engineering techniques and how hackers can obtain business and personal information about us to craft targeted attacks.
• Creating a Cybersecurity Culture: Learn the importance of implementing a cybersecurity culture at your place of work.
• Incident Preparedness and Management Planning: Identify the best practices to mitigate incidents, how to manage the crisis when an incident occurs effectively, and more.
• Laws and Global Compliance Standards: Review legal statutes and regulations, how they affect business management, and essential items to secure business and personal data.

Already an HAI Group policyholder? Contact our Online Training team to get started.

Ready to become a subscriber? See more about the benefits and get started.

This article is for general information only. HAI Group makes no representation or warranty about the accuracy or applicability of this information for any particular use or circumstance. Your use of this information is at your own discretion and risk. HAI Group and any author or contributor identified herein assume no responsibility for your use of this information. You should consult with your attorney or subject matter advisor before adopting any risk management strategy or policy.