With security programs often relying on a person clicking the wrong link or reusing an old password that had been compromised, there is only so much technical defense can do. Yet study after study highlights human error as a major contributor to successful breaches, which explains the growing prominence of employee training relative to firewalls and endpoint software. A good, well-thought-out training program will get you trained, and over time, this turns your employees into something lovable, the company’s early warning system instead of a liability.
Having a common reference point about what cybersecurity training for employees and its place at the heart of any serious security strategy after all, in a workforce populated by people ignorant of common attack patterns, techno solutions only go so far goes a long way before you even get building out what that program looks like.
Why Employee Training Matters
Attackers commonly attack people instead of systems. It’s easier (and more effective). All phishing emails, fraudulent phone calls, and fake login pages work based on how a person acts by entering credentials or downloading an attachment. Thus, no amount of network segmentation or monitoring of endpoints will beat a user handing their password to a convincing fake site. Training addresses this issue by training staff on how to identify the signs of trouble before damage is done.
In addition to preventing specific incidents, a prepared team will also help an organization improve its overall response time. When employees know what a threat event looks like, they will report it sooner, allowing security wings to contain the issue quicker and alleviate it before it goes wider. And this initial reporting can be the difference between an incident being contained and a breach affecting customer data or operations exploding into a full-blown crisis.
Nine Core Topics Every Program Should Cover
Not only in one, but also all training is presented at least once a year. They range across some of the topics that are more closely related to how employees actually work day to day. Then the topic of phishing detection never goes away; you train people to recognize odd appearing sender addresses, urgency in the text, and attachments from unrecognized sources. Another critical area is password hygiene: how to have unique passwords across different accounts, and the benefit of password managers to make that practical.
Beyond email phishing, social engineering should be remarked for the phone-level criminal acts, up to impersonation attempts that may try to pressure an employee into jumping over standard operating procedure. When it comes to digital security, a little understanding of how physical premises works also needs to be part of the curriculum, because even the most stringent digital controls can be completely undermined by someone tailgating their way into a secure facility or leaving their laptop unlocked. Last, an employee should know how and when to report a suspected event because the easier and more straightforward reporting process is one that encourages those who may have information about a potential issue to come forward rather than remain silent for fear that they misinterpreted an event or forgot what their responsibilities were.
Making Training Stick
An annual one-off training rarely results in longer-term behavior change. The organizations that show tangible improvement view training as a continual program, not a compliance checkbox. Security training is more effective in small snippets spaced out regularly than long annual seminars, as too much information at once is forgotten by your employees in a matter of weeks.
Simulated phishing exercises, especially, have gained popularity as a method that is practiced to reinforce the training in a low-stakes environment. Conducting such realistic but safe phishing tests lets security teams track how many employees succumb to typical tactics and then provide tailored training for those who most need it. These exercises naturally improve measurable performance as employees become more wary of unexpected requests.
When loss prevention or EHS training is important for employees working within organizations that are subject to compliance obligations of regulatory authorities, the organization often has only the option of conducting training tailored to specific compliance requirements. Consider workforce training requirements in the field of health care, where there is a direct nexus between the need to provide effective training and sensitive patient information, or more generally, that federal oversight governing workforce training can frame how teams best utilize enterprise compliance beyond common practices.
Tailoring Training to Different Roles
Providing education is a key element of mitigating risk, but not all employees and their roles are equally susceptible hence why training programs should encapsulate those differences. Take finance teams, for instance, which are routinely targeted with business email compromise schemes that attempt to get them to wire money into a bogus account. This audience needs training around particular instances of invoice fraud and executive impersonation. If your employees have access to sensitive customer data or intellectual property, you might require them to undergo more extensive training on amending the policies related to handling this kind of information if the number of users or the use increases.
New hires are a special concern as they usually do not know how the company works and are easier targets for social engineering, using their desire to help them. Integrating security really starts during onboarding, and day zero is the best day to reinforce expectations, lowering the risk and shortening the learning period in a traditionally high-risk time frame.
Measuring Program Effectiveness
A training program is only as effective as its impact on the bottom line. By monitoring metrics like phishing simulation click rates, volume of reported incidents, and completion rates for mandated training modules, security teams have a mechanism to track progress over time. Landing page click rates fall and reporting numbers rise is a sure sign that a program is working, but metrics are stagnant, meaning (dog ears) stick with the same training approach or format.
One source that organizations can have a look at is public resources, instead of reinventing the wheel. Public sector training resources also tend to include foundational awareness and more advanced exercises, making them a good reference point for organizations developing a training curriculum as they build their programs over time.
Building a Culture of Security
Best-in-class training programs do not just check the compliance box but seek to create a true culture of security awareness. That means visible leadership support of the program, rewarding employees who report questionable activity, and not punishing those who take the bait in a simulated phishing test. As long as employees feel safe to admit making a mistake, they are much more likely to report an actual incident quickly rather than trying to cover it up because they fear punishment. In time, this change in culture transforms every employee from a passive viewer of a corporate annual training video to an active contributor to the organization’s security posture.
Frequently Asked Questions
How frequently do you think employee cybersecurity training should occur?
In effect, a few short quarterly or monthly sessions work better for most organizations than one large annual event. Shorter, more frequent training is generally known to better aid retention and keep security awareness at the forefront.
What type of security training is most effective?
As a bonus, simulated phishing exercises with role-based content work really well together. They provide employees with hands-on exposure to recognizing real adversarial tactics rather than purely theoretical concepts.
Do you think specific security training should take place within a department?
Yes, content that is pertinent to a specific role tends to improve relevance and engagement. Another reason generic training may not be enough is that Finance, HR, and executive teams often see unique risks.
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