A strong cyber security culture is important for all organizations, big and small. But what should you consider for the implementation, and where to get started? In this article, we will walk you through the seven key steps.
A strong cyber security culture is important for all organizations, big and small. The damage created by global cybercrime (http://beinsure.com/cybercrime-predictions/#global-cybercrime-predictions-for-2025) is predicted to hit $125 trillion annually by the end of 2025. Cybercriminals are preying on organizations, targeting employees and users to get hold of sensitive information, financial assets, or to perform other hostile actions. In fact, the majority of IT-related incidents can be linked to human error.
The grim news is, this is not likely to stop anytime soon. Firewalls, antivirus programs, and other solutions can take you a long way, but can not eliminate all risk factors. This is why it is important to improve the overall security culture within the organization.
There are seven steps to implementing security awareness training to ensure success and follow best practices. This will provide you with the information you need to create and implement a training program of your own:
Step 1 - Get buy-in from the top down
Step 2 - Perform a gap analysis assessment
Step 3 - Schedule regular, consistent training
Step 4 - Review training performance regularly
Step 5 - Deploy periodic phishing simulations
Step 6 - Educate people who fail phishing simulations
Step 7 - Implement policy processes
Step 1: Get buy-in from the top down
Everyone needs to be on board to implement a well-functioning training plan and create a culture that drives actual behavior change. By everyone, we mean everyone: from executives to middle management and employees. Don't stop there: include contractors, consultants - everyone who has any access to your data and systems.
One important step is equipping your workforce with the tools and knowledge they need to stay vigilant against suspicious activities and malicious attacks. Training shouldn’t be an annual occurrence but rather a part of the daily work culture.
"Training shouldn’t be an annual occurrence but rather a part of the daily work culture."
Create a security awareness team that is responsible for the development and implementation of the security awareness program. Make sure the team consists of a cross-section of the organization, with people from different areas and different responsibilities. Having the team in place will make communication and implementation throughout the whole organization easier. How big does the team need to be? It all depends on your organization's size, needs, and communication structure.
Do you struggle with getting your executives onboard with security awareness training? Read our article on how to convince your board to invest in cybersecurity knowledge. (https://nimblrsecurity.com/blog/how-to-convince-your-executives-to-invest-in-cybersecurity)
Step 2: Perform a gap analysis assessment
As you are likely well aware, a single data breach can create major damage for organizations, resulting in financial losses, fines and reputational harm. The average cost of a data breach is 4.88 million USD (http://ibm.com/reports/data-breach). That's why many organizations, big and small, need to implement sufficient training.
A good place to start is with a gap analysis. This step is designed to help you identify weaknesses in your security awareness culture before they result in data breaches. The gap analysis should include:
- Knowledge aps: A clear definition of knowledge gaps within your organization. Does all staff have a common knowledge of security awareness, why it's important to change passwords, and how to spot suspicious email activity? Be honest and realistic to make sure no stones are left unturned.
- Vulnerabilities: A list of vulnerabilities your culture and organization faces. A system containing personally identifiable information, for example, or the lack of a security training policy in place.
- Compliance requirements: Regulations and requirements (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cybersecurity-policies) are becoming more common, especially regarding IT security. Do your research and make sure your organization follows the applicable regulations, like NIS2, DORA, and GDPR.
For the assessment to be successful, it is important to get an overview of the current situation: the IT security knowledge, awareness levels, and the overall understanding and need for security awareness.
By sending an anonymous survey to the employees, you will get a clear picture of the situation and which training topics will be most important to focus on.
The security gap assessment checklist:
- Gather the relevant information: Use surveys, reviews of existing security policies, and technical testing to collect data. Make sure to read up on current compliance regulations.
- Analyze the information: Compare your results with current compliance regulations to be able to identify differences and flaws within your process. Prioritize which gaps to address based on risk levels and business-critical factors.
- Conclude with a report: Document the results, your prioritized gaps together with your risk assessment, and a list of actions.
- Action plan and follow-up: Create an action plan that goes through how you will continue with the security awareness implementation, including clear and measurable goals. Don't forget to monitor the implementation of the measures and evaluate their effectiveness.
Step 3: Schedule regular, consistent training
Consistent training is one of the important factors when it comes to building strong security awareness within your organization and its implementation. This is important because cybersecurity risks continue to evolve, both in strength and numbers. For example: Since 2015, the growth of cyber crime costs worldwide has increased from $3 trillion, to $10,5 trillion – in just ten years. (https://www.embroker.com/blog/cyber-attack-statistics/)
When receiving training only once or twice, employees will forget about it soon after. If they haven't been equipped with the tools and skills needed to contribute to a strong security culture, the security awareness implementation will most likely be unsuccessful.
"Simulations are a great way to test vigilance, click behavior, and overall awareness levels."
This is why consistent training is important. A continuous learning strategy is the best way to learn new skills and improve cybersecurity knowledge.
Security awareness training based on continuous learning will be easier to adopt, the actual information will be retained longer, and the risk of employees clicking on malicious links will be reduced by up to 80% (https://nimblrsecurity.com/solution).
Examples of regular training:
- Short, educational courses: Short, interactive courses sent to employees weekly or monthly. When the courses are sent by email, the recipients can finish them when they have the time to do so.
- Harmless simulated attacks: Simulations are a great way to test vigilance, click behavior, and overall awareness levels. The simulations should be made to look as realistic as possible.
- Zero-Day classes: New threats are spreading rapidly, and what was current a month ago may be old today. That’s why Zero-day classes (https://nimblrsecurity.com/solution/zero-day-classes), based on real-life attacks and trends, are cornerstones in regular training. The classes should prioritize the most important knowledge gaps, giving the right information at the right time.
Step 4: Review training performance regularly
When you have begun the implementation, it is vital to track key metrics of the training. These metrics determine success and are essential for you to track user steps and involvement.
Being able to receive automated reports (https://nimblrsecurity.com/solution/reports) is usually a great way for managers and stakeholders to follow the process because of how easy it is to set aside some time to evaluate the training and get an overview of results and areas of improvement.
But how do you know if you are successful? There are many ways to measure this. Look at the hard facts regarding click rates, completion rates, and awareness levels. If they are developing in the right way over time, you have taken some of the steps for successful implementation.
It is impossible to improve employee cybersecurity knowledge if you aren't analyzing the results on an ongoing basis. Reports and analysis should include the overall awareness level, the overall click rate, and the completion rate of classes and courses.
Without everyone onboard, it will be difficult to have a successful implementation. Don't forget, your biggest asset is your employees. Take the time to ask your employees for feedback.
And remember it’s important to make sure that the questions you ask are aligned with your security awareness policy for successful implementation.
4 security awareness feedback questions to ask:
- Are they satisfied with the security training policy?
- Is there anything you can do to make them more motivated?
- Do you find the security training relevant and helpful?
- Are you able to take the training when it suits your schedule?
Create monthly or quarterly surveys and send them to your employees and users. By asking the same questions, you will be able to follow the development of the overall satisfaction, click rates, and other vital KPIs over time.
Step 5: Deploy periodic phishing simulations
The theoretical part of your security awareness training is important. But all implementations should include a lot of practical exercises, like phishing simulations. It might sound sketchy to send malicious-looking emails within the organization, but they are completely harmless and are crucial for building a strong security culture.
A simulated attack (https://nimblrsecurity.com/solution/simulations) is a training element where an email is sent to users. It could be made to look like an email from the HR department, the company CEO, or an external party such as the postal service, the tax authorities, or a headhunter.
"It is considered best practice to use realistic simulations."
The more realistic the simulation looks, the better. IT criminals are constantly evolving the ways to trick people with their attacks (https://online.yu.edu/katz/blog/the-evolution-of-cyber-threats). In fact, there are many examples of how scammers disguise their attacks to look harmless.
By regularly sending phishing simulations, you can ensure that your employees stay vigilant and learn which red flags to look out for. Most importantly, you will gain insight into the overall awareness levels and which users need a little bit more education.
Phishing simulation best practices:
- Deploy simulations periodically: Simulations should be conducted regularly, with a balance between being effective for overall awareness and causing fatigue. Some experts recommend quarterly simulations, while others recommend weekly send-outs. But every organization is different so you can experiment to find the pace that suits your organization.
- Combine simulation and education: One of the best ways to test the actual educational results from security awareness training is to send out a simulation on the same topic before or after a learning element has finished. This gives you the possibility to test users in a safe, but realistic environment.
- Use realistic simulations: It is considered best practice to use realistic simulations. Phishing simulations should closely resemble the real thing, fitting your company demographic, industry, or even employee roles.
With simulated attacks in your toolbox, you have a powerful tool for improving employee cybersecurity knowledge. Remember to use it. Regular practice and frequent reminders are key factors for the success of your implementation.
Step 6: Educate people who fail phishing simulations
When your simulations are up and running, you are close to having a successful security training implementation. The next step is to continue the training and educate those who fail.
Learning new skills and knowledge is an ongoing process. It is important to embrace a continuous learning strategy, based upon your security training policy and processes.
Security awareness training is about educating users, giving them knowledge, and making them better at coping with cyber threats. This is of key importance because the majority of IT-related incidents can be linked to errors made by humans. (https://www.ibm.com/reports/cost-of-a-data-breach). By strengthening the security posture of your users, you will boost your organization's IT security. For this to be possible, you need to offer regular training and pay attention to people who fail phishing simulations.
How to handle users who fail phishing simulations:
- Schedule one-on-one coaching: Some people might need a little bit more training to be completely successful. Sit down with users that are struggling and discuss their challenges.
- Offer the right training at the right time: Long, tedious learning sessions are not optimal for actually learning about security awareness. The best way to learn is by offering short courses, making it a part of everyday security culture.
- Tailored classes and courses: Use a security awareness solution that focuses on making the weakest link stronger, with tailored classes and courses. These solutions keep an eye out for users who might need more help and offer additional education and follow-ups.
- Instant learning feedback: Choose a training solution that provides users with feedback; also called instant learning. After being fooled by a simulated attack, the user receives a quick tutorial on what they did wrong – and gets specific tips on how to avoid similar attacks in the future.
A failed simulation can easily be seen as a failure, but that's missing the point. Treat those failures as opportunities to improve employee cybersecurity knowledge, which can hopefully prevent an actual phishing attack from being successful.
Step 7: Implement policy processes
By now, you are close to finishing the implementation of your security awareness training policy. The last step is all about implementation, repetition, and briefing.
Work closely with your HR department, director, and other stakeholders in the security training policy. Make sure to brief all stakeholders on the plan, objectives, steps, and goals that will be taken over the year – and what part they might have in the implementation.
They will be important for implementing a training plan effectively, making training mandatory for the whole organization. Make sure everyone understands the importance of improving employee cybersecurity knowledge in order to reach your goals.
Conclusion:
Companies, big and small, need to implement proactive security awareness training within their organization. By taking these steps, you will be on your way to executing a plan that will strengthen your security culture.
As you might understand by now, it can be difficult to do this on your own. Nimblr helps over 4,500 IT professionals all over Europe and beyond with our solution. Our holistic solution offers automated training, simulated attacks, and automatically created reports. Feel free to get in touch with us.
