What is Security Awareness Training
Avoid the Ransomware Nightmare - Train your team
When the fire alarm sounds, your team knows what to do. If they smell smoke in the office, they know what to do. They know what to do because you make sure every member of staff receives a safety briefing when they join, and a couple of times each year you hold some form of practice or training.
The chances of a fire in most businesses are very, very low – but because the potential damage and loss is significant it is worth spending the time on the training and the drills.
The chances of being a victim of cyber-crime are much higher – about 40% of businesses were affected in 2021 according to the UK Government, and of those a quarter experienced a cyber-attack every week! If the chances of having a fire were that high, your business would be uninsurable and shut down - and 2022 has seen a 50% increase in cyber crime compared to the previous year!
The impact of cyber-crime can be every bit as devastating as a fire, resulting in the loss of money, business and even life. It’s not just security and IT staff who need to know what to do in the event of a cyber attack, with legal, finance, and executive staff needed to help handle the fallout in response to 39% of cyber attacks.
Security Awareness Training is like the fire drill for your office - a few minutes well spent will help protect your business from a potentially catastrophic loss caused by ransomware or a hack.
Cyber Coach is a one-stop-shop that provides everything you need for effective Security Awareness Training that educates and entertains your staff and protects your business. We train your staff to be the last line of defence against cyber criminals.
Here is an overview of the key elements of an effective Cyber Security Awareness Training programme (of course ours ticks all these boxes!):
Meets the requirements of your compliance standards
Whether you follow a formal security framework or have developed your own policy, your Security Awareness Training needs to align to the requirements of the policies in place in your business. Our training covers the requirements to demonstrate compliance with frameworks including: ISO27001, PCI-DSS, Cyber Essentials, and IASME Governance.
Relevant to your business
Your security training needs to be relevant to your business and the way your team works every day. Generic guidance is much less effective than specific and direct instructions. Your training also needs to answer the practical questions you team has:
Where can I find the policies that apply to my job?
Who should I call for help or advice?
What are the exact rules I need for follow – such as password length and complexity for example
Our unique live training approach ensures every training is specific to your business – pointing staff to the exact policy on Sharepoint, or the department or individual as needed to ensure everyone understands exactly what they need to know to do their job safely.
Help your team make the right choice
Mistakes rather than malice are more likely to result in a security breach – so make it easy for your staff to find the tools and processes they need to follow. Your Security Awareness Training programme is the best opportunity to ensure every team member knows the right tools to use to complete their tasks each day securely and safely. It is here you can counter the complaint that ‘security gets in my way’ and replace it with ‘the security team provides me with tools so I can easily do my job.’
Cyber Coach security training will enable every member of your team to answer the question: What are the tools I can use to keep data secure?
What are the things I must not to?
Making the right choice to handle data securely, means understanding what should not be done as well. Giving your team clear direction as to what they must not do actually makes people feel more confident and comfortable when doing their job. It also brings to the surface any perceived obstacles with completing certain tasks allowing a more secure way of working to be identified.
Engaging and Effective
Security Awareness Training is more than a compliance exercise – there is no point in getting the certificate to hang on the wall if your business is still vulnerable to cyber-crime. Our training is designed to be entertaining and engaging – this means your team will remember what they learn, and their behaviour will change as a result. It is only when your team changes their behaviour that your security improves.
Security Awareness is more than a one time event
Changing behaviour and culture takes time, so an effective Security Awareness program lasts all year, it is not a one-time event. Through ongoing reminders and training top-ups you can make security awareness and safe behaviours the default behaviour – keeping your business safe all year round.
Our security awareness programmes include a variety of tools and techniques that help you keep security front-of-mind all year round. These include emails, posters and top-up training videos spread throughout the year.
Each month we provide resources and messages you can share with your team to develop your security culture on topics such as: Picking passwords, How to Spot Phishing Emails, Keeping Software up to date, Working remotely safely and many more.
To learn more about how Cyber Coach can meet all your Security Awareness Training needs, arrange a free consultation with one of our trainers.
Implementing the Managed Cyber Team from Cool Waters can continue to keep your cyber security up to the highest standard required for your business and the data you handle, and add a layer of technological protection.
