Batten down the hatches. Fill the moat. Close the drawbridge. These are old concepts but relevant just the same in the digital age. With cybersecurity moving to the forefront of corporate concerns, there's a lot that end-users can do to help prevent a debacle from occurring within their organization. At times, it seems like this is an IT problem to solve, however, there are a multitude of steps that can be taken by end-users.

First, look within your mission critical applications and take advantage of all the security capabilities inherent in the product. Do your systems provide permissions and settings for individual users at a very granular level? Good systems have separate write, update, delete and view database permissions. Don't be lazy. It's essential to set up a tight security profile that gives users just enough latitude to get their jobs done AND keep them and your business out of trouble. Secure user controls by saving role profiles as master settings that new users with the same functional responsibilities can inherit in the future.

Second, lock down your business processes. Apply "4-eyes" approval workflows to virtually everything. Hopefully your system is flexible enough to set up flexible authorizations based on thresholds and filters. For example, payment outliers above a certain amount or in "unusual" currencies should be automatically flagged and subject to additional approvals.