In today’s quickly changing digital world, cybersecurity is a top priority for businesses everywhere. In the face of increasingly frequent and sophisticated cyberattacks, business leaders defending their companies from cyber threats continuously seek new technology to improve overall data security.
Within the IT ecosystem of an organization, popular managed security controls include firewalls, antivirus software, email security, and similar measures. However, one technology that undoubtedly offers much-needed protection against cyberattacks is often ignored — we are talking about security awareness training.
Security awareness training is required to raise awareness of cybercrimes. IT specialists are now employing it as a common tactic to protect their companies against security lapses brought on by human error. However, creating a training regimen takes a lot of effort. Most of the time, technical issues delay training plans even while threats are knocking at the door. This is why every organization needs to mandate the training of staff members about the risks associated with phishing and other online scams.
In this blog, we will provide you with a brief overview of security awareness training, what benefits it brings to an organization, and how you can implement it in your own company.
What is Security Awareness Training?
Security awareness training is an effective method by IT and security experts to inform staff members and other stakeholders about the value of cybersecurity and data protection. The ultimate goal is to lower the risks related to cyber threats and increase security awareness among staff members.
Companies must educate their personnel on the importance of safeguarding the company when developing a security awareness training program. They should also give them a summary of the relevant corporate policies and procedures, which address how to operate securely and who to notify if they come across a potential threat. No matter how long they have worked for the company, personnel of all levels should be included in the security awareness training since cybersecurity and compliance are ever-evolving disciplines.
Let’s see how a security awareness training program benefits your company.
What are the Benefits of Implementing Security Awareness Training For Your Organization?
Security awareness training is a long-term strategy and can have far-reaching implications for your organization once you implement it periodically. Here are five benefits associated with this methodology:
- Safeguarding Sensitive Data
Protecting sensitive data is critical for many organizations. Customer data, confidential information, financial records, and intellectual property are vital, sensitive, and classified data that cyber criminals try to steal and use against your company to gain an advantage over your rivals.
Employees who receive regular security awareness training are given best practices and instructions for protecting sensitive data. Encryption, safe data transport, and secure data storage are possible topics. By educating their staff, organizations can lower their risk of data breaches, which can result in monetary losses and harm their reputation.
- Driving Awareness about Human Errors
Research findings constantly highlight the role of human error as the main cause of data breaches. Employees may unknowingly expose their companies to cyber dangers by falling for phishing emails, clicking on harmful links, or misusing sensitive data. Employees can better handle this human factor by learning about frequent hazards and best practices through periodic security awareness training.
A strong security awareness training program will raise employee awareness of cyber dangers, provide them with the skills and confidence to identify them when they arise and teach them how to handle and escalate the situation. A security-aware culture is fostered, and user technology security education is emphasized in organizations when security awareness training is continuously provided as part of a wider training program. The more knowledgeable your staff is, the more effectively they can protect your company and the more proactive you can be with your security protocols.
- Reducing and Staying Ahead of Cyber Threats
A security awareness program can be a crucial component of your security architecture to lower risk, which in turn can prevent data breaches and a host of other cybersecurity concerns.
Implementing a security awareness training program ensures employees will be aware of information security best practices for commonly used apps and technologies in the workplace, such as websites, email, and social media. This enables them to recognize better common social engineering attempts such as spear phishing and phishing. Security leaders can go one step further by simulating phishing attacks. This is where the company’s security team sends employees misleading emails that seem like malicious emails.
Moreover, cyber threats are dynamic; this means that they are always changing. New attack surfaces, weaknesses, and strategies appear regularly. Sustaining one’s advantage against these dangers requires continuing education, training, and vigilant monitoring. Frequent periodic security awareness training guarantees staff members are current on the newest threats and weaknesses. It gives them the know-how to identify fresh attack avenues and adjust to shifting conditions. This flexibility is crucial in the constantly changing field of cybersecurity.
- Adhering to Compliance Requirements
As cybercrime continues to wreak havoc in today’s technologically-dependent world, it has become essential to implement regulations to protect data, and even these compliance requirements are constantly changing. While you may only be required to implement them in a few sectors like banking and healthcare, insufficient security measures may result in legal action and hefty fines.
Strict regulatory frameworks requiring cybersecurity knowledge and training programs apply to many businesses. Compliance is required by law; it is not a choice. There may be severe fines and legal ramifications if these requirements are met. Regular security awareness training is necessary to keep these regulations in compliance. The finer points of pertinent legislation can be covered in training sessions, ensuring staff members understand their roles and the possible repercussions of breaking them.
- Saving Time and Money
Cybersecurity breaches can damage more than just important data; they can also cost money, time, and even reputation. Security awareness training should be seen as an investment in cybersecurity to prevent higher expenses in the event of an incident.
Businesses should address the impact of compromised credentials in their training programs, among other initiatives. In the event of a breach or other security issue, the costs and duration involved in repairing and returning to normal business operations might be high. There is significantly less chance that a cyberattack will occur, and all vital business systems can continue to operate online if your staff members are knowledgeable about cybersecurity concepts and recognize their responsibility for maintaining your company’s security. Periodic security awareness training ensures employees know who to call, how to report events, and what to do during a security breach. Recovering from the breach, minimizing damage, and containing it can all be achieved with rapid incident response.
Finally, check out the steps to implement periodic security awareness training in your organization.
Steps To Implement a Security Awareness Training Program For Your Organization
Here is a breakdown of the process of implementing periodic security awareness training programs in your organization:
- Get Buy-In From Senior Management: Convey the importance of security awareness training to senior management by aligning it with organizational goals and values. Choose an appropriate time to articulate the benefits, emphasizing its relevance in today’s cybersecurity landscape. Use a top-down approach and reference persuasive insights for securing budgetary support and resources efficiently.
- Perform a Gap Analysis Evaluation: Conduct a gap analysis to assess security awareness vulnerabilities in your organization. Identify the areas to analyze, like understanding why employees fall for phishing emails. Establish the ideal future state, envisioning a scenario where no staff falls for phishing emails.
Analyze the current state, examining causes contributing to the issue. Compare current and ideal states, determining the gap. Create a plan, choosing effective training programs to bridge the gap and strengthen employee cybersecurity. This assessment provides insights to prioritize training and address improvement areas effectively.
- Schedule Periodic Training: Opt for monthly security awareness training to effectively educate staff on new threats and enhance knowledge retention. When selecting security awareness training software, prioritize options that offer personalized training over one-size-fits-all programs for optimal effectiveness. This will prevent you from overwhelming your staff with cybersecurity knowledge and help them learn apace.
- Assess Training Performance Regularly: Review employee performance at pre-determined intervals regardless of the training type or frequency. This evaluation identifies areas for improvement and enables real-time coaching. Many security awareness training programs include criteria, tests, or assessments to gauge learning effectiveness. Use tools to access metrics, adoption rates, and performance grades and track changes over time for comprehensive insights into the training’s impact.
- Conduct Phishing Simulations: Every skill must be regularly practiced to be mastered. This is particularly relevant given the dynamic nature of cybercrime nowadays; periodic phishing simulations should be used instead of one-time employee training sessions. They function as refresher courses that help your staff members hone the skills they have already acquired while also allowing your company to track the progress your staff members have made toward training goals.
- Repeat Training for Employees Who Fail Simulation: While phishing training is vital, companies often lack guidance on addressing employee failures. Repeated failures signal a need for careful intervention. IT managers can educate employees on vigilance and reinforce common signs of phishing. Implementing remedial measures helps prevent employees from falling prey to real attacks. Opt for bite-sized training programs to ensure effective message consumption and retention.
- Implement Clear Policy Processes: Clear, traceable policy documentation is crucial for a robust security foundation. IT Managers often send policy documents to ensure employees’ understanding and agreement. Some security awareness training programs offer pre-made policy templates for email, password, and encryption that can be customized to organizational needs, saving time and effort. You can also use software with tracking capabilities that provide insights into employee progress, ensuring policies are viewed and signed, with advanced features allowing automatic rule-setting for targeted employee engagement.
Security and Compliance with Akitra!
Establishing trust is a crucial competitive differentiator when courting new SaaS businesses in today’s era of data breaches and compromised privacy. Customers and partners want assurances that their organizations are doing everything possible to prevent disclosing sensitive data and putting them at risk, and compliance certification fills that need.
Akitra offers an industry-leading, AI-powered Compliance Automation platform for SaaS companies. Using automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring, together with a full suite of customizable policies and controls as a compliance foundation, our compliance automation platform and services help our customers become compliance-ready for security standards like SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, FedRAMP, CCPA, CMMC, SOX ITGC, and more such as CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark, Australian ISM and Essential Eight etc. In addition, companies can use Akitra’s Risk Management product for overall risk management using quantitative methodologies such as Factorial Analysis of Information Risks (FAIR) and qualitative methods, including NIST-based for your company, Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing services, Trust Center, and AI-based Automated Questionnaire Response product to streamline and expedite security questionnaire response processes, delivering huge cost savings. Our compliance and security experts will provide customized guidance to navigate the end-to-end compliance process confidently. Akitra Academy provides easy-to-learn short video courses on security, compliance, and related topics of immense significance for today’s fast-growing companies.
The benefits of our solution include enormous savings in time, human resources, and cost savings, including discounted audit fees with our audit firm partners. Customers achieve compliance certification fast and cost-effectively, stay continuously compliant as they grow, and can become certified under additional frameworks using a single compliance automation platform.
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