With data breaches costing UK businesses an average of £2.9 million to recover and human error accounting for 90% of all breaches, the fact is that in the current climate cyber awareness training is an essential component for every company. Why is cyber awareness training still so important?
To prevent breaches and attacks
Security awareness training would prevent breaches, which, in turn, will reduce business expenditure. In comparison to data breaches, security awareness training is relatively inexpensive.
To make more robust defences
From security warnings to software, increasing defences is vital, and having the right technological defences ensures a company is at the forefront of protecting its information.
To build a culture of security
When employees feel they are able to contribute to a culture of security, every part of the business understands the values of what that notion of security brings to the company.
To improve compliance
Businesses that introduce training purely to comply with rules and regulations are not doing enough. Compliance should be a by-product of the right cyber awareness training.
To improve social and moral responsibility
If an organisation does not have cyber awareness training in place, it can have a knock-on effect in making other organisations look vulnerable.
To improve employee well-being
Well-being is pivotal to employee happiness. Having robust cyber awareness training does not just benefit the company, but benefits the people. Having knowledge of best practices ensures they can keep their family and children safe outside of the working environment as well.
Instils customer confidence
Customers want to feel safe and secure if they are providing you with sensitive information. As almost two out of three customers would likely avoid doing business with any company experiencing a cyber attack, it is vital to have cyber awareness training in place for the sake of customer service.
What Are the Best Security Topics To Cover During Training?
The importance of password security
Ensuring your employees know that passwords are the first line of defence can protect sensitive and valuable information from hackers and other forms of cyber security threats. Employees will always need to understand the different ways a threat can present itself, from malware to spam, phishing, and even people in the organisation.
How to identify and report threats
Employees need to know how to spot these errors, and as a business, there should be a procedure for reporting them that is easy to follow and implement, ensuring the business remains robust in the face of a threat.
Internet, Email, and Social Media Policies
Including relevant policies and guidelines to ensure employees use these three components effectively can greatly reduce exposure to attacks.
The Ever Nimble CAT
Cyber awareness training is essential for businesses to create shared responsibility and accountability. As many companies unfairly look at cyber awareness training as a box-ticking exercise, it is so important for small to medium-sized businesses to understand that employees are one line of defence, but also having a robust system will guarantee the data is protected in the best possible way.
