Awareness Training
We are no strangers to the fact that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and reliant on the internet. As a consequence, the number of cyber threats and attacks is also on the rise. It is important that all businesses have a robust cybersecurity program in place to protect their data and systems. One of the most cost effective ways to do this is through cyber awareness training.
What is Cyber Awareness Training?
Cyber awareness training is an educational program designed to inform your staff about the latest cyber threats and how they should protect against them. It is important for organisations to incorporate this type of training into their cybersecurity program to ensure that all employees are up-to-date on the latest threats and understand the specific measures they need to take in order to protect the company’s data and systems.
The training can include a variety of topics, such as data protection, phishing scams, password security, and more. This type of training should be ongoing and updated regularly to keep up with the ever-changing threat landscape.
Business Benefits of Cyber Awareness Training
There are many benefits to incorporating cyber awareness training into your cybersecurity program.
- Protect Sensitive Data: One of the most significant reasons for cyber awareness training is to protect sensitive data. Cybercriminals often target you to steal financial information, customer data, and other confidential information. Cyber awareness training can help your employees identify threats, follow security protocols, and take steps to secure data from cyber attacks.
- Prevent Cyber Attacks: Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, and an awareness of the latest threats and vulnerabilities helps you to guard against them. Cyber awareness training can help you stop cyber attacks on your business before they happen.
- Comply with Regulations: all organisations are subject to various regulations related to data protection and cybersecurity. Cyber awareness training can help you comply with these regulations by educating your team about data privacy laws and security protocols.
- Improve Staff Productivity: Cybersecurity incidents can result in downtime, loss of data, and other disruptions that can negatively impact productivity. Cyber awareness training helps staff understand the importance of cybersecurity and empowers them to protect data and systems.
- Maintain Customer Trust: Customers trust your business with their personal and financial information. A data breach or cyber attack can kill that trust quickly. Effective cyber awareness training can help you maintain that customer trust.
Cyber awareness training can be considered an essential component of your cybersecurity program and required by some security certifications such as ISO 27001.
How is the Cyber Awareness Training delivered?
Training can be delivered in a variety of ways depending on your objectives, staff locations and budget. Delivery mechanisms are as varied and include:
- Games
- Handouts and Bulletins
- In person training
- On-line training modules
- Posters in general access areas e.g. staff kitchen
- Phishing simulations
- Tips and
- Videos
- Webinars
The main feature of the training is that it should be engaging, memorable and relevant.
Phishing Testing
Phishing testing is a good way to help your employees spot malicious emails and should be incorporated into the awareness training programme. According to KnowBe4, 91% of data breaches begin with a phish. Testing keeps the team match fit, teaching them the tell-tale signs in a safe environment, and reinforcing the training.
Reduce Risk
By ensuring your staff are well-informed and knowledgeable about cyber threats and how they protect against them, you can help to reduce the risk of a data breach or other cyber incident.
Embed a security culture
Training can help to create a culture of security consciousness within your business. This ensures that all your team are aware of the importance of cybersecurity and data protection. They will understand the steps they need to take if they are suspicious or after detecting a security incident which helps to protect your data and systems.
Minimise risk of business damage
Finally, cyber awareness training can help to reduce the risk of financial losses due to cyber incidents. By educating staff on the latest threats and how to protect against them, organisations can reduce the likelihood of suffering financial losses due to a data breach or other cyber incident.
Next Steps
It is essential that organisations incorporate cyber awareness training into their cybersecurity program to ensure that all staff members are up-to-date on the latest threats and can understand the specific measures they need to take in order to protect their company’s data and systems. Cyber awareness training can be a valuable resource for organisations looking to enhance their cybersecurity and protect their data and systems from the latest cyber threats. An investment in awareness training can be very good value indeed. Contact us now!