Terranova Security
Security Awareness Training: The Definitive Guide
What is security awareness training?
Security awareness training is the practice of educating employees, contractors, partners, and other stakeholders on how they can safeguard sensitive information from cyber threats. Additionally, this process also informs training participants on how they can keep various systems, networks, online accounts, and other digital assets safe from hackers.
Why is Security Awareness Training Important?
Security awareness training helps organizations reduce risk related to the human side of cyber security and build a strong security-aware culture across all business units. To achieve this, CISOs and other security leaders construct risk-based awareness training programs that targets unsafe behaviors like clicking on a phishing email link or downloading a malicious attachment.
With a security awareness program in place, organizations strengthen information security and keep sensitive data like personally identifiable information (PII), intellectual property (IP), and accesses to confidential accounts, such as bank accounts. Awareness training can also ensure employees comply with industry or regional data privacy regulations, such as GDPR.
As organizations improve their security awareness maturity model, they often see a sharp decrease in cyber security-related costs, as well as a positive impact on their productivity, revenue generation, and brand reputation.
Does Security Awareness Training Work?
Because all cyber attacks are rooted in human behavior manipulation, security awareness training is the most effective tool to safeguard sensitive information from hackers. By giving employees the knowledge needed to detect and report common threats, organizations minimize the possibility of data breaches compromising their data.
That said, effective training is grounded in effective security awareness planning. An organization’s security awareness professionals must establish clear cyber security goals, the metrics they’ll use to measure performance, and actionable strategies to attain or exceed their aspirations. Boosting employees training participation and completion rates must also be considered.
According to the 2021 Gone Phishing Tournament results, one in every five end users click on suspicious phishing message links. Of those who clicked, three-quarters compromised their data. By implementing dynamic security awareness training options, organizations can avoid extended downtime, revenue loss, and other inevitable data breach consequences.
What should a security awareness program include?
The best security awareness solutions combine a variety of different learning activities to deliver an engaging, informative, and fun (yes, work-based training can and should be fun!). Common training program components include (but are not limited to): online courses, quizzes, interactive modules like Serious Games, phishing simulations, and ongoing communication campaigns.
Security awareness program topics will vary based on an organization’s goals and maturity level. However, it’s important to cover a solid spectrum of security awareness fundamentals, such as phishing, social engineering, ransomware, malware, email security, and password best practices. A solid knowledge foundation will improve knowledge retention and phishing simulation performance.
How to implement security awareness training?
The goal of security awareness training is about more than meeting compliance standards or ticking corporate mandates off a checklist. Organizations must strive to build vital cyber threat resilience, based on real-world intel, and, using that momentum, foster an internal culture that prioritizes continuous security awareness education.
To get the most out of your training program, you must implement each element carefully and connect it to you an overarching information security vision.
For most security awareness teams, a successful implementation will resemble the following process:
Baseline phishing test
To accurately gauge initial end user security awareness, perform an initial baseline phishing simulation test. The results of this exercise will infuse the result security awareness report with the intel needed to craft a focused, risk-based training strategy.
Expert planning and executive support
Before launching any awareness training initiatives, it’s vital to get executive support. This process can be made much easier by leveraging informed opinions based on your baseline security awareness report and industry expertise, such as in-house Terranova Security CISO resources.
Engaging, multilingual training content
Phishing training modules
Reinforcement tools
Dynamic, real-time reporting
How to guard against the dangers of AI
The rise of artificial intelligence is being accompanied by a rise in consciousness of the risks to cybersecurity.
“Hackers are utilising AI to develop more advanced attacks and evade detection from security tools,” says Theo Zafirakos, Chief Information Security Officer at Fortra’s Terranova Security. “Businesses need to be aware of the various ways that hackers may manipulate them, from malware designed to bypass detection to more sophisticated and targeted phishing attacks.”
For instance, scammers are now exploiting AI technology to impersonate people by creating voices that convincingly portray victims’ coworkers. This phishing technique can deceive employees into providing sensitive information.
AI can also be used to gather sensitive data. “Every industry is grappling with an enormous amount of data,” says Zafirakos. “Attackers are employing AI to analyse and collect data more quickly. Healthcare providers, manufacturers and financial services organisations handle large amounts of data to drive innovation and inform decision-making. Bad actors will target that sensitive data to either disrupt operations or gather further information.”
There are steps that organisations can take to protect themselves. One of the most important is cybersecurity awareness training, which can enhance an enterprise’s ability to identify and mitigate AI-related security threats.
“As with any other cybersecurity concern, knowledge and proper employee education are the best defence,” says Zafirakos. And AI can be put to good use here. “Chatbots can be employed to educate users on how to protect their devices and personal information. Similarly, machine learning on employee awareness levels can be utilised by team leaders to identify gaps in employee knowledge of security awareness.”
Furthermore, employees can learn to detect AI-enabled or AI-generated attacks and avoid falling victim. They can also learn about the acceptable use of AI tools for business operations in the process, such as enhancing productivity. For example, they can learn to fact-check emails through phishing awareness training and avoid opening unsolicited software that could be AI-generated malware.
“Detection and prevention technologies, such as intrusion protection systems and intrusion detection systems, and user-behaviour analysis can monitor and alert users to any suspicious activity on their networks or devices in real time,” explains Zafirakos. “AI can also be used to automate threat responses to swiftly mitigate damage and prevent its spread to other infrastructure components. This will significantly reduce the costs associated with data protection, awareness training and data-breach responses.”
As AI continues to evolve, organisations must take proactive measures to stay ahead of emerging threats and vulnerabilities.
“Understanding how AI can disrupt or improve an organisation is essential for successful operations,” says Zafirakos. “I urge business leaders to establish an internal acceptable use policy for AI tools so that employees can enhance their workloads, and to incorporate content related to AI risks and threats within their security awareness programmes so that everyone is equipped to protect against AI-related attacks.”