Threat actors rely on human error, counting on employees to fall for their tricks.
A single mistake, like a reused password or a phishing click, can cause severe financial and reputational harm to even the most forward thinking organizations.
While many organizations believe they have security awareness training in place, it’s often outdated, inconsistent, or overly basic and doesn’t prepare team members properly.
Failing to prioritize cybersecurity training as a critical business issue exposes companies to data breaches that can lead to public trust disasters. Security leaders must view investing in cybersecurity awareness training as a critical component of their overall security strategy.
Learn how you can help your employees spot and stop cyber threats to protect everything you’ve built.
What is Security Awareness Training?
Security awareness training teaches employees how to spot potential cyber threats before they cause harm to your organization. This education covers key cybersecurity best practices, common attack methods, and real-world tactics used by hackers.
Team members learn how to recognize phishing scams, social engineering tricks, and ransomware attacks. By learning cybersecurity best practices, employees become the first line of defense, helping to protect sensitive company data.
The Benefits of Security Awareness Training
Employees are often seen as the weakest link in cybersecurity, but that’s only true if they aren’t trained. With the right knowledge, team members learn how to detect commonly used hacker tactics to protect themselves and your company’s most sensitive assets.
The benefits of strong security awareness training include:
1. Create Extra Layer of Cyber Protection
Hackers often use social engineering tactics like phishing emails or fraudulent phone calls to get employees and staff to reveal sensitive information.
When an employee spots a breach attempt, their security awareness training kicks in. They have the knowledge to recognize suspicious activity, like unusual logins, strange pop-ups, or unexpected file changes, that suggest someone is trying to steal information. They report it to IT and help prevent a security breach.
A team member's ability to recognize these threats is indispensable.
Without security awareness training, employees may miss the warning signs of a cyberattack and give bad actors easy access to sensitive data.
2. Build a Culture of Cyber Security Literacy
A strong security culture makes cybersecurity everyone’s responsibility, not just IT’s. When employees across all departments know how to recognize the tactics most commonly used by threat actors, they follow safe online practices, and become an active defense against cyber threats.
3. Improve the Credibility of Your Organization
Customers and partners are increasingly aware of cybersecurity risks. When your organization prioritizes security awareness training, it builds trust and reassures stakeholders that their data is protected.
A well-trained workforce signals a commitment to security, making others more confident in doing business with you.
4. Helps Meet Compliance Requirements
Many industries require organizations to provide security awareness training to meet compliance standards. Ensuring your team completes the necessary training helps you stay compliant, avoid fines, and maintain a strong security posture.
Empower Your Team With Cybersecurity Knowledge and Training
For years, Kevin Mitnick collaborated with our partner KnowBe4 to create a security awareness training program that gives employees the education and skills to recognize and prevent cyber threats.
Today, our Global Ghost Team™ continues this mission, working with KnowBe4 to evolve and enhance security awareness training, especially as cyber threats become more sophisticated.
With up-to-date training, this program will help your team stay prepared, reduce the risk of breaches, and ultimately protect your critical data and the trusted client relationships you’ve worked so hard to build.
