Security awareness training: How to raise awareness among your employees
With social engineering removing any doubt about the authenticity of an email and phishing becoming scalable thanks to artificial intelligence, it is high time to sensitise employees to the dangers. In our blog article, we explain how you can sensitise your employees to phishing emails with security awareness training.
As already described in our article on the characteristics of phishing emails, a third of users click on malicious content in phishing emails. ‘Thanks’ to social engineering, phishing emails are no longer generic mass mailings from Nigerian princes, but psychologically effective, personalised attempts to persuade the victim to take a certain action.
With special software that recognises and blocks fraud attempts, you can effectively protect yourself against phishing emails. Good anti-phishing software scans every incoming email and ensures that you only receive messages that have been categorised as safe. It checks the sender and offers effective attachment management.
If a malicious email does manage to reach the mailbox, the danger from ‘’fast clickers‘’ remains: with social engineering removing any doubt about the authenticity of an email and phishing becoming scalable thanks to artificial intelligence, it is high time to sensitise employees to the dangers.
What is security awareness training?
Security awareness training (SAT) is a programme designed to raise awareness of cyber risks among the employees of a company or organisation. It provides participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to act in a security-conscious manner and to recognise and prevent potential cyber attacks. The training therefore aims to change employees’ behaviour and ensure that they contribute to protecting your company against threats.
To stay with the example of social engineering: Employees learn, for example, what various methods and techniques such as phishing or baiting are all about. The aim is to sensitise them to the fact that even seemingly harmless requests, calls or emails can be potentially dangerous. Employees are also trained to recognise typical signs of cyber attacks, such as unusually urgent or emotional requests or people claiming to be a trustworthy source (e.g. IT department, line manager) without direct confirmation being possible.
What are the aims of security awareness training?
Generally speaking, the aim of such training is to increase your organisation’s resilience to online and offline threats. Employees should learn how they can protect themselves from online threats, and therefore also their organisation. The following objectives of SATs can be summarised in detail:
What does security awareness training consist of?
In contrast to phishing simulations (see below), security awareness training focuses on training and knowledge transfer. SATs are therefore mostly theoretical and include presentations, videos, online courses or workshops in which the most important threats and security rules are explained to employees.
At best, the training courses are based on behavioural science and psychology, as this increases the intrinsic motivation of employees and ensures better results.
The typical content of security awareness training courses includes:
What does security awareness training look like?
People differ in their learning styles and therefore in their preferences as to how they absorb, process and retain information. This is why, in the best case scenario, a mixture of different methods is used.
These include, for example, e-learning modules, i.e. interactive online courses that impart theoretical knowledge to employees. However, on-site workshops and seminars are also part of the training, as face-to-face events are well suited to deepening safety concepts and best practices.
‘Gamification’ is a buzzword that is rightly being used more and more frequently in connection with SATs: gamification helps employees to expand their security knowledge in a playful and motivating way. Playful learning leads to greater willingness to learn and motivation as well as a high level of acceptance among employees – and therefore to increased security.
Simulate attacks with phishing simulations
Practical simulations can also be part of security awareness training, although in many cases these simulations are more commonly categorised as phishing simulations.
The aim of this training is to test an organisation’s security systems and improve its response to possible attacks. The exercise consists of simulating real threats and attacks. The AST can take different forms.
Some examples:
Through such simulations, an organisation can optimise its security measures and increase employee competence in dealing with cyber threats. Among other things, it is important that the scenarios are as realistic as possible and that the results are analysed in detail afterwards. ASTs should also always involve the entire organisation – because employees in all departments are potential targets.
Our partner SoSafe offers personalised, behaviour-based phishing simulations that enable your employees to better recognise and avoid future threats. They learn safe behaviour in a practical way and have the necessary skills at their fingertips to react correctly in challenging situations.
Do you need support?
Do you need support in selecting strong mail security software or professional security awareness training? Arrange a free appointment with us directly.
