What Topics Must Be Covered in Effective Security Awareness Training in 2025?

Cybersecurity awareness training can teach concrete ways to spot scams, but how can employers enforce company policy when scammers can adapt at a moment’s notice?

A cybersecurity training program can give your employees the confidence they need to make critical decisions. What’s important is to empower employees to think critically, which will build a strong security culture long term.

Here, we’ll look at what training should cover and how to test your program’s impact.
Read more about why security awareness training is important.

This article contains:

• Core elements of security awareness training in 2025, such as password security, AI threats, and incident reporting.
• How to use simulated phishing attacks to test your cybersecurity awareness training.
• Why regular cybersecurity training for employees helps change behavior and reduce risk.

Why does security training matter?

Despite network security measures, such as firewalls, encryption, password monitoring, tracking, cybercrime losses are expected to cost the world more than $1 trillion in 2025 (Cyber Defense Magazine). Our digital and interconnected personal and professional lives provide scammers with endless opportunities to exploit security gaps.

These scams have a major impact. From 2020 to 2022, there were nearly 50 known attacks on European utility and energy companies (Eurelectric). In spring 2020, Norway’s state-owned investment fund, Norfund, lost $10 million to a business email compromise scam (Norfund). The hackers were able to not only create fake emails, but also perfectly mimic the internal communication style to avoid suspicion.

In 2019, scammers used AI voice emulation software (vishing) to steal €220,000 from a U.K. energy supplier. The attack succeeded by convincing the U.K. CEO he was speaking to the CEO of the parent company (Forbes).

Preparing employees to address new and evolving cyber attacks means explaining the underlying principles of data breaches so employees can identify suspicious activity. Security training shouldn’t just list facts, but actually teach, and test, employees’ understanding of these principles.

"For example, two weeks after a course, you might send a fake HR email about health care enrollment."

What is cybersecurity awareness training for employees?

Cybersecurity awareness training typically includes:

• Social engineering: How to recognize and defend against deceptive attacks via phone calls, text messages, emails, websites, social media, and more.
• Password security: How to use passwords, multi-factor authentication, and password managers securely to protect corporate resources.
• Remote work: How to access secure Wi-Fi networks and what to do if one isn’t available.
• Incident reports: How to report security incidents, including required information for submission.
• AI: How to detect sophisticated attacks now that scammers use AI to deceive systems, networks, and users.
• Data privacy: How to work with data on a day-to-day basis to comply with standards and reduce the risk of violations.
  

What your program should focus on

The most effective programs prioritize the following:

1. Behavioral change
   Employees’ habits, how they manage day-to-day tasks, have been years in the making. Training must help them unlearn risky behaviors and adopt secure routines. One session isn’t enough. Frequent training and consistent reinforcement are key.
   
   
2. Simulated attacks
   Simulated attacks provide measurable data on how effective the training actually is. For example, two weeks after a course, you might send a fake HR email about health care enrollment. If 10% of recipients click the link, you gain insight into how well people understood the training and could use this knowledge in a simulated attack situation..
   See how to implement security training step by step.
3. Updated Courses
   Scammers evolve quickly and your training must too. While it’s impossible to predict every threat, especially with the rise of AI-generated content,you can empower employees with human-centered tactics and the latest attack trends.

Investing in security

Nimblr offers training sessions designed to align with employee learning patterns and organizational security goals. Across sectors, we deliver techniques that deepen your understanding of both external and internal threats.

We help employees in every department build personal defenses, so they don’t fall for the latest scams.