Why is Cyber Awareness Training so important?
Lack of proper cyber security training and awareness is the single biggest cyber security weakness for most small to medium-sized businesses.
According to a study by Shred-It, nearly half of data security breaches reported by c-suite executives (47 percent) and small business owners (42 percent) were caused by employee negligence or error.
Proper cyber awareness training is essential for your business, as the importance of user technology security education within organizations is becoming increasingly apparent. Here are some of the biggest benefits of security awareness training for your company, and how a security training program can enhance your business’ protection from breach.
The Top 10 Benefits of Cyber Security Training
1. Reduces the Chances of a Breach
Well-trained staff with cybersecurity awareness training will know how to spot phishing and spear-phishing attacks, rendering those methods of data breaching much less effective. With proper training, employees will also learn the benefits of cyber security training by learning to be more careful with their mobile devices and keeping their passwords secure. Even the most basic cyber awareness training and cyber awareness challenge knowledge can drastically limit security threats.
2. Gives Employees More Ownership of Cyber Security
When your employees are aware of security issues, and are trained in cybersecurity, they can take a more active role in stopping cybersecurity threats and protecting sensitive information. This is why the importance of security awareness training and awareness programs needs to be highlighted within your organization. It’s vital to get staff acquainted with various security systems, such as DOD information systems, to catch issues before they occur. This will defer the involvement of any Defense Information Systems Agency, such as the Department of Defense.
3. Helps You Deploy Cyber Technologies Faster
Well-trained employees are better prepared to learn and deploy new technology. With efficient cyber awareness training for your employees, your company can more easily upgrade both hardware and cyber security measures, such as multi-factor authentication, password managers, etc.
4. Protects Your Business Assets
When you have trained employees working in every part of the company, you have qualified personnel protecting each sector. Ensuring that you have the right people in place to protect your assets is a major deterrent to cyber attacks. In addition, by acknowledging the importance of technology security education within organizations, you can ensure that all employees know how they can help to fight breaches and protect crucial business assets.
5. Minimizes Downtime
Data breaches and cyber attacks do damage in many ways – one of them is the time lost due to repairing the damage that they’ve caused. Downtime from a cyber attack can be as destructive as the data lost itself, and fewer cyber attacks also means less time dealing with a downed network. A network secure strategy can be your best line of defense against unnecessary downtime.
6. Frees Up Your Cyber Expert’s Time
It’s a great idea to have a cyber security expert or team on staff. When the rest of your staff knows how to watch out for phishing emails and spam, know how to keep passwords safe, and can protect your sensitive information from human error, your dedicated cyber security staff can focus on the more urgent issues suited to their expertise.
7. Helps You Reach Industry Compliance
Depending on where your company is located, you may have to meet specific data management requirements in order to comply with information security regulations. Having training sessions with your employees, and having a comprehensible knowledge check option, is the best way to meet information assurance requirements.
8. Boosts Employee Morale & Confidence
Dealing with a cyber attack is stressful, and no employee wants to be the one who makes a mistake that hurts the company. With cyber awareness training, your employees will gain the confidence that comes with knowing how to stop cyber threats before they become a problem.
9. Saves You Time & Money
With less downtime from cyber attacks, your workplace will be more efficient and productive. In addition, your apps, servers, and networks will have more uptime.
10. Boosts Your Overall IT Security
Your employees are the primary target for cyber attackers, but employees trained to identify cyber attacks can stop them long before they pose a threat to your business. By ensuring that employees are no longer a gap for cyber attackers to exploit, you strengthen your company’s entire cyber security system.
Training your employees in cyber awareness transforms potential cyber security liabilities into assets. Cyber attackers usually view employees as the weakest link in a company’s cyber security plan: with training, you can make your employees the first line of defense and teach them how to keep the company safe.
For more information on providing cyber awareness training for your employees, an MSP with a speciality in IT services is an excellent option. Power Consulting offers services dedicated to keeping small to medium-sized businesses safe from cyber attacks, with locations in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. If you want to learn more about Power Consulting’s cyber awareness training services, contact them here.
