Businesses rely more than ever on technology to keep their ship afloat. To keep your business smooth sailing, you are going to need a team who can: troubleshoot tech disasters, provide solutions for the plethora of common cloud computing issues, understand the importance of data backups and recovery, know the ins and out of a business communications system, and most importantly provide a top-notch security package. Partners Plus has over 30 years of experience providing those services to various types of businesses.
Your business’ security program must start with your employees and robust security policies rather than entirely depending on your IT team or the latest security solutions. You can significantly reduce the likelihood of a data breach by combining a well-drafted cybersecurity policy with comprehensive security awareness training.
It is your responsibility to implement security training for all your employees so your organization can withstand cyberattacks and conduct business as usual. Regular training will also help you develop a security-focused culture within your business and make cybersecurity awareness second nature to your employees.
Cybercriminals can target your employees at any moment to gain access to sensitive business data. However, if your employees receive regular security awareness training, their calculated decision-making and quick response can effectively block deceiving threats.
Security Culture and Its Influence on Employees
Conducting a one-time employee training session for the sake of compliance does not adequately benefit your business’ cybersecurity posture. It is regular security awareness training that can truly protect your business from looming cyber threats that are constantly on the rise.
The following statistics throw light on why security awareness training is essential in today’s threat landscape:
- Human errors cause 23 percent of data breaches
- Over 35 percent of employees do not know about ransomware
- Nearly 25 percent of employees have clicked on malicious links without confirming their legitimacy
Developing a security-focused culture aims to nurture positive security habits among employees. For example, the simple habit of locking one’s computer screen when leaving the workstation unattended can prevent data from being accessed by unauthorized users.
Once you properly train your employees, they will be more aware of the business’s security policies and will realize that their employer’s cybersecurity is their responsibility as well.
Tips to Implement Effective Security Awareness Training
Until recently, companies would impart security awareness training as lectures using a slide deck. Businesses conducted these training sessions once a year or once during induction. However, these sessions proved ineffective because of their uninteresting nature and lack of follow-up sessions.
Implementing robust security awareness training is crucial if you intend to develop a security-focused culture. Here are a few tips that can help you effectively implement security training:
- Make the training sessions interactive – Your employees will show more interest if you deliver training in high-quality video format since it grabs more attention. Add text content only as a complementary piece to the video. Ensure that the presentation is appealing to your employees so that they do not miss out on important details. Also, make sure your employees can clear their doubts through face-to-face discussions or virtual conversations with subject matter experts.
- Break the training into smaller modules – Since the attention span of your employees will almost certainly vary from one to another, breaking training sessions into smaller modules will help them retain information faster as a whole. You can regularly send training modules to your employees to ensure they are up to speed on the latest security topics. Smaller units have a better chance of retention than lengthy pieces of content.
- Facilitate self-paced learning – Give your employees the freedom to learn at their convenience. This, of course, does not mean deadlines should not be set either. Make sure you give your employees sufficient time to complete each training module based on its complexity.
- Training must include relevant material – The training material must not contain any outdated information. Given how quickly the cyber threat landscape is changing, the training must be updated regularly and must cover new cyber threats, so hackers don’t end up tricking your employees. Please remember that the content should not be overly technical. The training material must be imparted in an easy-to-understand manner so employees have no trouble applying it in daily work scenarios.
- Conduct reviews with quizzes and mock drills – To assess your employees’ preparedness, you must conduct regular tests, including mock drills, that assess alertness based on their response to simulated scams.
Transform Your Weakest Link Into Your Prime Defense
Regular security awareness training can help develop a transformative security culture within your business, thus enabling your employees to detect even sophisticated cyber threats and undertake adequate action.
We at Partners Plus understand that training employees on rock-solid security awareness can be daunting. Allow us to integrate security awareness training right into your day-to-day operations. We will do all of the heavy lifting for you. All you have to do is ensure that your employees diligently study the training materials. Contact us today, and let’s get started!
About Partners Plus
Managed IT Services That Do the Work for You
Partners Plus began in 1991 as an outsourced IT department after working as the Director of Programming and a Consultant for six years. For 30+ years now, we have been 100% committed to ensuring small- and medium-sized business owners have the most reliable and professional virtual CIO in the Delaware Valley. Our dedicated team of professionals will solve your IT nightmares quickly and without confusion on your part.
Our customer-specific memberships deliver your needs without overstepping your budget boundaries. From cloud services and data backups to ransomware prevention and Dark Web monitoring, Partners Plus is here to work with you and your expert company, dependable outsourced IT support and security.
Partners Plus has locations and services the following areas:
Managed IT Services in Philadelphia – Managed IT Services in Delaware – Managed IT Services in Malvern
