Cyber 101: Why cyber security awareness training is crucial to protect your business

Relevant and up-to-date content

Cyber threats are evolving quickly — and attackers are constantly developing new tactics. Outdated training may leave employees unprepared for new methods of attack such as deepfakes or AI-driven scams.

Ensure that your cyber security awareness program is updated consistently to reflect current attack methods so that your employees are equipped to identify and respond to cyber threats. It is also important to provide training on a regular basis to keep employees alert to the risks your business is facing and ensure cyber security is at the forefront of their minds.

Identifying potential suspicious and malicious links and content

Phishing scams remain the most popular method of attack — and typically involve a cybercriminal impersonating a trusted individual or organization to trick an employee into clicking on a link and sharing sensitive information. This includes passwords, credit card numbers, login information, and more.

This makes it crucial to ensure your employees can recognize suspicious or malicious links and content to protect the sensitive information of your business. Additionally, encouraging employees to report suspicious content can help foster a security-first culture within your business.

Realistic simulations and testing

It is important to put the knowledge your employees gain from a cyber security awareness program into practice. Realistic simulations and testing help your employees practice what they’ve learned and make mistakes without any real-world consequences — turning errors into a learning opportunity.

Simulations and testing also help you measure the effectiveness of your cyber security awareness program. It provides data on click rates, reporting rates, and improvements over time. It also uncovers weaknesses such as which individuals or departments are most at risk so that you can provide additional training to reduce these vulnerabilities.

What are the key considerations for your cyber security awareness program? 

While a cyber security awareness program consists of the three pillars above, these additional tips can help enhance its effectiveness:

Make it personal

Introduce awareness programs that show how workplace security practices can also benefit your employees in their personal lives. Demonstrating how strong, secure passwords are crucial to protect their personal information and how avoiding clicking on suspicious links can protect their assets will transform how they view your policies and procedures.

Provide engaging training and feedback

Attention and information fatigue are relevant concerns for today’s workforce. While employees may comply with mandatory training, this doesn’t guarantee that they will absorb, retain, or fully engage with the information and key learnings provided. Consider how to make cyber security awareness relevant and integrated with their daily work and the broader culture of your organization rather than bombarding them with high volumes of information.

It is also important to reward and acknowledge when employees report security incidents and threats to your teams. This helps validate the employee’s actions, encourage continued vigilance, and helps to build a sense of contribution to organizational safety.

Encourage instead of penalize

The cost and damage of a breach is typically proportionate to the amount of time it takes to detect and address the threat. Employees are more likely to report threats when your IT and security departments react to concerns with encouragement instead of antagonism.

This makes your employees part of the solution, and the benefits are two-fold. Relevant professionals receive the information they need to identify the source and method of a breach and fix the problem, and employees are more likely to speak up if they suspect an attack has occurred.

How to pick the right partner for your cyber security awareness program 

While your IT or cyber security department can provide in-house cyber security awareness training, a third-party advisor can also help develop and implement an effective program. However, it is important to ensure an external partner has the right experience to meet your specific needs.

Considering these key factors can help you select the right partner for your business:

• References
• End user experience and feedback
• Relevant, industry-specific content
• Automation and customization that allows you to tweak tooling based on your needs
• Integrations with your identity provider (such as Okta or Entra ID) and your corporate learning management system (LMS)
• Industry-specific experience and an understanding of the unique threats facing your organization

If you are considering building your own cyber security awareness program, the Government of Canada provides a helpful resource for small- to medium-sized businesses. Click here to explore the web page.

Take the next step

A strong cyber security awareness program can help protect your business as the frequency of cyber attacks continues to increase. Reach out to a member of our Cyber Security team to learn more about how to customize an awareness training program for your team.