The top three cyber-attacks that modern businesses face are email compromise, online banking fraud, and business email compromise (BEC). This startling information was discovered by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) in their 2024 threat report. All of these attacks have one thing in common: they are typically caused by employees.
Your staff are not doing this maliciously. The real culprit is a lack of education. If your team doesn’t understand cyber security, this is the end result.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of a liability, your staff can be an important line of defence against data breaches. All you have to do is give them the right tools. In this case, that means cyber security awareness training.
Why Cyber Security Awareness Training is Crucial
Most businesses are starting to become aware of the threat presented by cyber-attacks, and have implemented technological solutions designed to stop them. This has changed the approach that bad actors use. Instead of attempting to break through these barriers using brute force, many are attempting to bypass it entirely.
They do this through social engineering attacks – a special type of threat that specifically leverages human psychology. The threat actor’s goal is simple: convince employees to compromise the business for them. Unfortunately, it often works. Poor cyber security knowledge among staff members makes them an easy target.
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Human Firewall: Meaning and Importance
A human firewall is the term used to describe employees who become an active part of your cyber defence. They detect potential security risks in real time, and act to prevent them from causing harm. This may involve reporting suspicious behaviour, isolating affected devices, or changing passwords. In essence, they themselves become an extra line of defence for your business.
Human firewalls take time to build. But once you have one, your chance of experiencing a security breach is much lower. Your business will be safer and more resilient, ready to handle any threat that comes its way.
Key Elements of Effective Cyber Security Awareness Training for Employees
Every business is familiar with what a failed training session looks like. About halfway through, employees start working on other tasks, doodling in their notebooks, or even falling asleep. This is precisely what you don’t want. If they are not paying attention, they won’t retain anything. But convincing them to stay engaged can be quite challenging.
Successful cyber security awareness training comes down to a few important elements
Realistic Scenarios
The best cyber security awareness training uses real-life examples. Where possible, point to real security incidents that have occurred and include genuine suspicious emails to demonstrate what a phishing attempt looks like. This helps drive home the point that attacks are real, not theoretical.
Engaging Formats
Long, text-heavy documents or presentations are unlikely to have the desired result. The average human attention span is only a few minutes, and shortening by the day thanks to short-form video content. If you want training to stick in your employee’s minds, you need to work with this instead of against it.
The best way to accomplish this is through short, engaging content. Videos, quizzes, tabletop exercise, and visual guides are more effective than an hour-long lecture. Gamifying education through reward systems is another highly effective technique.
Regular Reinforcement
There is a reason you automatically repeat information to yourself over and over when you need to remember it. The more times a person hears something, the more likely it is to stick. If you only perform one or two cyber security awareness training sessions a year, that information will be gone from your employee’s minds within a few months. As a result, their behaviour will start to slip and security risks will sneak through the cracks.
To prevent this, remind your staff of their training regularly. Put posters up around the office, share news stories about recent attacks, and perform occasional phishing drills. Make security a constant presence within the business, and it will become part of the company culture.
Relevance
Employees do not care about information that isn’t relevant to them. While everyone needs basic training modules on social engineering attacks and how to prevent them, not everyone needs to know about advanced access controls. Tailor the information you provide to your audience.
What About Security Awareness Training Costs?
Many businesses hesitate to commit to cyber security awareness training for financial reasons. They fear that the budget simply cannot be spared without creating financial difficulties down the road. This is an understandable but flawed perspective.
The truth is that a data breach costs far more than training. Downtime alone can drain thousands of dollars per hour, depending on the size of your business and workforce. Forensic reports, recovery, and potential lawsuits or fines raise the price even further. If you make the mistake of paying a ransom, you could be millions of dollars out of pocket.
In comparison, security awareness training costs far less. Even a professionally-led program is only likely to set you back a few thousand dollars. If you handle it in-house, it will be even less expensive. Financial costs are not a good reason to neglect security.
Measuring the Success of Your Human Firewall
Now that your training program is in place, it’s time to measure the success of your human firewall. Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you experiencing fewer breaches?
- Are staff clicking on malicious links less often, and reporting suspicious contact attempts more often?
- Is cyber security becoming a topic of conversation among employees?
- Are staff holding each other accountable for maintaining strong security?
If the answer to these questions is “Yes”, then congratulations – you have created a human firewall. All you need to do from this point forward is maintain it, with regular reminders that keep reinforcing the message.
FAQs
Can I Perform Cyber Security Awareness Training Free of Charge?
Cyber security awareness training is not free, but cost-effective tactics do exist. Posters, quizzes, and real-life examples create a high impact without requiring as many resources.
How Often Should I Perform Cyber Security Awareness Training?
You should run a comprehensive training program at least once or twice a year. However – and this is key – you must support it with smaller, bite-sized courses spread across the entire year. This is essential to make sure staff retain the information you have given them.
Are Cyber Security Training and Awareness Enough to Protect My Business?
Cyber security training and awareness are not enough to protect your business on their own, but they are an excellent starting point. Remember to also invest in strong access controls and technological defences. In some cases, managed security services may also be helpful.
The Training Didn’t Work. My Business Was Attacked. What Now?
If you provide training and still encounter issues with social engineering attacks, do not shame your staff for their failures. Instead, use it as a learning opportunity. Take the necessary employees into a private environment, calmly get to the bottom of what happened, and develop a strategy together to prevent it next time. Remember that everyone makes mistakes.
Bring the Human Element Back to Cyber Security
Cyber threats aren’t going anywhere. But your team can rise to the challenge, given the right training and support. By investing now in tried and tested educational techniques that drive engagement, you can turn your staff into a powerful asset ready to face threats head-on. The end result will be a business that can handle any security challenge.
Not handling security effectively on your own? You’re not alone. And fortunately, you don’t have to. National IT can take care of everything for you, securing your business while you focus on profits. Learn more about our managed security solutions if that sounds like an interesting offer.