Where To Begin If You Have No Security Training Program

In today’s day and age, many companies are realizing that security training is necessary for all employees. After all, the employees within an organization are the weakest link and are the easiest to exploit when looking for confidential information or when looking to do damage to a target company.

Many companies do not know where to start when discussing security training for their employees. Most end up hiring outside help to assist in this process.

But for those companies that cannot afford outside assistance on this issue, or for those that would like to keep this training in house, here are a few tips to get your Security Training Program started.

Provide Basic Security Awareness Training Sessions for Users

Most employees in the workplace are not aware of the threats that we face online every day. Most people will go through their work life clicking on all the links they receive in their inbox or submitting personal information in online forms on multiple occasions. This type of behavior is something we want to stop or limit in the workplace and the first step to eliminating that behavior is educating your users on what to look out for.

There is a plethora of online resources available such as whitepapers, free online lessons, and various articles across the internet where you can gain valuable information to pass on to your users.

At some organizations, you may already have an Information Technology or Information Security staff member who already has this knowledge that can be passed on to others. Take the time to schedule in person or virtual meetings where your more knowledgeable staff members or leadership can teach your other staff members valuable tips and tricks and things to look out for online and in their inbox.

Test Your Users with Phishing Simulations

After educating your users you are going to want to test their knowledge and what they have learned in a real-world scenario. One of the best ways to do this is to create a Phishing Simulation for all your users. These Simulations send emails that mimic emails they may receive in the workplace from potential attackers and test how they react to the email they receive. Will they open the email and click on a link, potentially giving an attacker access to their systems? Will they see the email, reflect on what they learned and ignore or delete it?

These simulations are the best way to see what your employees will do in those tough situations. There are many online providers that can provide these tests for free if you sign up on their website. An example would be KnowBe4, who provides a free phishing test if you sign up on their website.

Ensure User Training Occurs Consistently 

New threats emerge each and every day, and the types of threats that emerge are evolving at a rapid rate. Because of this, it is important that your users receive training on at least an annual basis. This training can be done using your own staff as mentioned in this post, or if after a year you believe you do cannot constantly provide this training for your users, you may want to ask outside agencies for assistance. 

DataSure24 offers Security Awareness Training for all business sizes and provides full management of the service itself via one of our Security Analysts. Learn more about our Security Awareness Training here.

Does your company have the right cybersecurity plan in place? Contact us for more information on how our customizable services may help protect your business.

Posted by Connor Karek