5 Practices for nailing cyber security awareness training for employees

Why is Cyber Security Awareness Training for Employees Important?

When was the last time you had to take cyber security awareness training? Due to the ever-changing threat of cyber crimes, organizations must prioritize nailing employee cyber security awareness training for employees.

Solid cyber security awareness training is one of many important lines of defense in your organization’s cyber security setup, and some might argue that it is the most important.

Since it is so important, you want to ensure that it is done correctly and avoid common mistakes. To do that, you want to implement a few practices to empower your employees by providing them with the tools and confidence to face these cybersecurity challenges.

Here are a few practices you can put into place to aid in nailing employee cyber security awareness training for employees.

Make cyber security awareness training more than a one-off activity

If cyber security awareness training is something people in your organization have to do once and check off the to-do list, then the effort will be futile. Instead, it fosters a sense of curiosity that encourages employees to keep seeking to understand better and respond to the new and evolving threats that face them in the cyber landscape.

As with anything we strive to learn more about, repetition is a key factor in making the new knowledge become second nature to us. If your organization’s employees only receive cyber security awareness training once in a while or worse yet, only once, then the positive habits associated with the goal of the training will never take root.

Deliver relevant and up-to-date information

To encourage engagement, make sure the cyber security awareness training your organization completes is up-to-date on technology and relevant to your organization’s industry. It is also a huge plus if it isn’t boring. This will increase your chances of catching the attention of your employees when they see how it directly impacts them.

Measure behaviors rather than activity

While having a high completion rate is great, what you really want to see is a change in behavior with your organization’s employees. Maybe you have test phishing emails that are sent to employees. Has the no-click rate increased since you implemented cyber security training? Or perhaps even the number of reported phishing emails to your IT administrator has increased. These are the types of behaviors you want to see when doing cyber security awareness training.

Create a culture of growth

It is important that employees feel encouraged in their cyber security efforts and not scolded for shortcomings in training. An organization’s leadership also needs to be fully invested in the training program and speak positively about it. You want to foster some buy-in from your employees so that they feel invested in the success of your organization’s cyber security plan.

Seek help when needed

Developing a comprehensive cyber security awareness training program can be a lot of work. Be sure to seek help from external experts, such as an IT Managed Security Services Provider. They can keep you up to date on the latest cybersecurity developments and provide you with a solid training program.

Plan to Succeed

Implementing the above practices can better equip your organization to handle the increasing challenges of cyber security. Having your employees trained can be another way for your organization to strengthen just another layer of your cyber security strategy.

Want to chat with someone about your cyber security strategy? As always, we are here to help.