A cybersecurity awareness training program is specialised training to educate employees about security threats, safety measures, and best practices.
Research indicates that human error is the leading cause of serious security breaches. The Egress’ Insider Data Breach Survey 2021 found that 94% of organisations have experienced insider data breaches, of which 75% of instances occurred due to security lapses by employees. A successful cybersecurity awareness program will enable your employees to identify potential vulnerabilities and assume the best course of action during an attempted cyberattack.
How to Choose a Cybersecurity Awareness Training Program for Your Employees
Five essential requirements must be met when choosing a cybersecurity awareness training program.
1. The program should address email security
Humans are the weakest links in every cybersecurity program. Cybercriminals know this, and they’re always trying to exploit human weaknesses to gain access to private networks. Interactions between cybercriminals and employees almost always occur on one communication platform – email.
This makes sense. Malicious email attacks, also known as phishing attacks, require little effort from cybercriminals – a single click on an infected link is often enough to start a malware download that takes an entire corporate network hostage.
A good cybersecurity awareness training program primarily focuses on email security to address the most popular gateway to data breaches.
By ensuring your staff can recognise and correctly respond to phishing attacks, you could potentially prevent most data breach attempts. According to Verizon’s 2021 data breach investigation report, 85% of breaches were caused by human error.
2. Make sure the lessons are engaging
The problem with traditional cybersecurity programs is that they often fail to resonate with employees. Long-winded theoretical lessons delivered over several hours won’t change cybersecurity habits. Your employees will just walk away bored with very little recollection of the essential security lessons they were taught.
Engaging content maintains attention and helps employees understand the real-life implications of their actions.
3. Consider varying levels of cybersecurity understanding
Not all of your employees will commence cybersecurity awareness training on the same footing. When assessed, you’ll be surprised by how many of your staff are unfamiliar with even the most basic cybersecurity knowledge.
Your ideal cybersecurity awareness training program must cater to the varying knowledge needs of all your employees. The training should aim to lift the entire company’s baseline of cyber threat awareness without leaving anyone behind.
4. Test Knowledge with Simulated Cyberattacks
To further increase knowledge retention, theoretical content should always be accompanied by a practical component. In the case of phishing attack awareness training, phishing simulation attacks should follow theoretical lessons to allow students to put their improved email security habits into practice.
Periodic testing will keep your employees aware of the ongoing potential of phishing attacks and prevent regression to previous poor security habits.
5. Ensure Training Modules are Continuously Updated
Cybercriminals are constantly evolving towards more sophisticated cyberattack methods. An ideal cybersecurity awareness training program must remain at the cusp of the threat landscape by continuously updating its learning modules.
PhishNet: The Best Cybersecurity Awareness Training Program in 2022
Organisations looking to bolster their cybersecurity protection cannot ignore the value of employee training. While implementing an awareness program is an excellent start, the goal should be to develop a ‘security culture’ and establish cybersecurity as the focal point of your organisational culture.
PhishNet’s cybersecurity awareness training program has been specifically designed to help all staff improve their email security habits, no matter where they sit in the organisation.
With engaging elearning videos supported by simulated phishing attacks based on real-life events, you can trust PhishNet to permanently improve cybersecurity habits across your entire organisation.
Contact us to discuss your cybersecurity awareness training needs today!