Cybersecurity training: why do you need one & how to do it?

Lack of cybersecurity awareness among employees is the main barrier to establishing effective IT defense. 43% of employees have already made some mistakes that compromised themselves or the company’s security.

Can (and how) cybersecurity training mitigate or prevent some costly mistakes? Why do companies need periodical training programs? How to do them?

Why do companies need cybersecurity training ?

The rates of cybercrime are growing. Each year, the number of cybercrime cases rises by 15%. By 2025, damages from cyber threats will reach a spectacular $10.5 trillion annually.

An average price of a data breach is alarming too. Since last year, it has increased from $3.86 million to a record of $4.24 million.

Statistics presented by Cyberedge Group are pessimistic – 76% of companies expect the worst outcome. Organizations believe their abilities to detect or prevent a data breach are limited.

Even though pessimism became a new normal, some promising strategies that can help to protect against cyber threats exist. Cybersecurity training can reduce the risk of successful cyber attacks by 70%.

How is employees’ cyber awareness related to damage reduction?

It is a common belief that employees are the weakest link in cybersecurity. Understanding why humans make mistakes (rather than blaming them) can help to reduce the risk of cyberattacks.

How?

1. 43% of employees who fell for a phishing scam thought the email was legitimate. Teaching them to recognize phishing emails could decrease this number significantly.

2. At least 65% of employees reuse the same password on multiple platforms. Increasing awareness towards correct password management could minimize the number of password-related breaches.

3. 5.6 billion malware attacks are happening globally each year. Most could be avoided if employees learned to recognize fraudulent email attachments, links, websites, and applications.

How to do efficient cybersecurity training ?

Periodical cybersecurity training leads to effective company defense against cyber threats. Here are the key areas that you should focus on while providing training to the employees of all sectors.

Setting up a safe learning environment

• Start with explaining the need for cybersecurity training. Understanding the need motivates and increases engagement with learning material.
• Create a safe environment to ask questions. Make sure each employee has a chance to ask questions without getting judged.
• Provide feedback. Let people know how they improved personally.

Password management

• Make sure employees are familiar with the correct password creation principles. Introduce information regarding strong, randomly-generated passwords, the necessity to use a unique password to a single account.
• Teach employees how to use a reliable password management tool to store and share data safely.

Social engineering attacks

• Include social engineering attacks in the learning material. Let people understand what it is, how these attacks work, and teach them to recognize them.
• Present safely constructed phishing or malware email simulation. This way, employees can learn to recognize fraudulent emails and attachments quickly.

Most importantly, make sure that cybersecurity awareness is not a one-day topic. Ideally, provide cybersecurity training regularly so that secure data management becomes a habit.

Investment into cybersecurity training always pays off. It is directly linked to reducing the chances of suffering from a costly cyber attack.

Start planning the upcoming cybersecurity training today.