Hackers don’t spare anyone. They strive to attack any business regardless of its size. However, IT security awareness training minimizes, if not prevents, the drastic effects of a breach. In this article, let’s find out what is IT security awareness training and why you need to implement one.
What Is IT Security Awareness Training?
IT security awareness training educates employees. This is done by covering all aspects of data security and regulatory compliance. This is an ongoing and formal cybersecurity education for your workforce. Furthermore, this program addresses various cyber threats that may affect your company in the future.
Typically, employees are prone to risking security – whether intentional or not. This program prevents employees from risking financial and intellectual property. Furthermore, this program prevents customer trust from declining. Moreover, the training avoids major data losses causing huge losses. In short, this program increases businesses’ cyber strength.
Why Do We Need An IT Security Awareness Training?
We’ll never know when hackers will attack. Cyberthreats are always connected to work environments. Furthermore, hackers use more complex methods as time passes. Hackers change their methods from time to time.
Hackers commonly use phishing. Many businesses feel that their employees won’t fall into this trap. However, that’s not the case. Cybercriminals still use the phishing method because it continues to be successful. According to a study published by Verizon, 93% of successful breaches start with phishing.
Regular training that includes phishing simulations reduces risks. Moreover, the program helps businesses decrease infections and related help desk costs. This also protects its reputation. This is important to keep in mind because reputational damage might take forever before healing.
What Should The Program Contain
The main goal of educating employees is preparing them in fighting these threats. They are not born knowing what risks exist. Leaders must teach their employees in discerning what is risky or unacceptable. Furthermore, leaders must educate their employees on looking for clues indicating threats. Also, employees must learn how to respond to these threats.
Security is everyone’s responsibility. Do not ignore even small risks or mistakes. Take note even of the seemingly harmless behaviors. Why? Because even seemingly small, they can bring huge consequences.
Best Education Practices
Moreover, it’s important to take note of how you teach your employees. Otherwise, they might end up forgetting the information. Take a look at some of these practices.
Divide The Information Into Pieces
Training will be more effective if you divide the content into smaller pieces. This method prevents employees from getting overloaded with information.
Avoid Teaching The Same Information Over and Over Again
The training might attract a few employees if you’ll teach the material they already know. Conduct a pre-testing to know what information your people still need. This improves the quality of the training. Furthermore, it prevents redundancy and employees from getting bored.
Use Real-Life Examples
Provide real-world examples and stories to make the training meaningful. One good source to use is the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). Furthermore, presenting real-life scenarios make the lessons real and not just a list of rules to follow.
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