How to build a cybersecurity awareness program

No matter how robust your company’s digital defenses, your cybersecurity program is only as strong as its weakest link. Ironically, even in an age of AI and automated solutions, it’s often the low-tech concerns that you have to worry about most. Like Proofpoint’s 2024 Voice of the CISO report reminds us, the overwhelming majority of CISOs concur that human error is actually today’s top cybersecurity riskOpens a new window . When you’re plotting an online privacy and safety strategy, one of the first things to remember is that it’s people and policies where many digital lines of defense actually tend to fall flat.

Keeping all of this in mind, it’s critical to invest in a cybersecurity awareness program for your organization. With the right training, you can turn any given staffer from a potential point of vulnerability into a strong line of defense against cyberattacks. But as IT leaders are all too aware, planning, implementing, and maintaining an effective security program isn’t as simple as sending out a few emails or holding a one-time seminar. Rather, successfully cultivating and nurturing cybersecurity skills among your teams requires you to take a more comprehensive and strategic approach to providing ongoing education and promoting a culture of cautiousness.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can design and implement a cybersecurity awareness program to give your teams the tools needed to stay one step ahead of virtual threats.

Why it’s important to educate your team

According to the University of Maryland, cyberattacks now happen every 39 secondsOpens a new window , and attacks on organizations are growing by 25% year-over-year. On top of it, the average cost of a single data breachOpens a new window is now $4.9 million – a 10% jump over the year prior, and the highest it’s ever been to date. According to the International Monetary Fund, cybercrime will also cost the world $23 trillionOpens a new window within the next 24 months alone… a jump of 175% over the last half-decade. Noting this, it’s clear that cyberattacks are becoming more frequent for companies and costlier than ever, making it crucial to train employees in how to spot and counter these incidents.

A few points to note here

• Human error Is a major risk: Whether inadvertently exposing sensitive information, falling for a phishing scam, or clicking on a fraudulent link, employees’ actions can have a huge impact on your organization’s cybersecurity posture.
• Today’s threat matrix is evolving: Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated, coordinated, and organized… even to the point of working in teams that specialize in different aspects of criminal activity. Employees who cultivate a healthy sense of suspicion and work to actively watch out for, and stay aware of emerging threats can help significantly reduce the chances of an attack succeeding.
• Regulatory compliance is a concern: Companies in industries such as finance and health are subject to laws and regulations (think GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) that require regular cybersecurity training and routine upskilling for employees. Instituting and maintaining a winning cybersecurity awareness program isn’t just a good idea for your business, it might also be necessary for your company to stay legally compliant.

Creating a cyber awareness program that works

When you’re plotting the shape of a cyber awareness program, it helps to know where to begin and what areas of interest to focus on. Let’s take a closer look at common steps that companies typically employ as they work to map out and refine successful cybersecurity initiatives here.

As you develop your roadmap, think about which efforts can help you make the biggest impact the fastest.

Step 1: Review and measure your current security posture

Important to note: Before you can start to plot out and build the mechanics of an awareness program, you’ll need to get a better sense as to where your organization currently stands on the security spectrum. Getting a solid idea about your company’s cybersecurity culture and strategies provides a baseline that can help you track progress and spot potential areas for improvement. It can also help you identify any action items that need to be flagged as active priorities for your training plans.

Questions to ask yourself

• How up to speed are your staffers on basic cybersecurity principles? Do they know what phishing looks like and how to spot attempts? Do your teams, tools and applications use multi-factor authentication (MFA)? Do staffers across the business understand the dangers of connecting unsecured devices to networks?
• Does your company have a formal incident response plan in place? Do staffers know which step-by-step actions to take, what tools they can leverage, and who to reach out to for help in the event that they suspect a compromise or breach?
• To what extent are employees actively following existing security policies? Are your teams operating in accordance with formal IT protocols and cybersecurity procedures? Do they follow data protection standards, including notifying supervisors about suspicious activity?

Ways to gauge cybersecurity awareness

• Surveys & questionnaires: You can use polls and surveys to quiz your employees and gain a better sense of their level of understanding when it comes to cybersecurity threats and policies.
• Test and simulate cyber attacks: Run controlled experiments such as phishing simulations or social engineering tests that simulate real world cybercrime scenarios to let employees role-play and see how successful they are at spotting and stopping common tricks.
• Q&A sessions: Conduct one-on-one interviews with employees, vendors, or fellow IT staffers to gain a better idea of how cybersecurity is viewed in the organization and how its principles are practiced on a day-to-day basis.

Step 2: Define objectives and goals for your training program

Once you have a better sense of how well-informed and up-to-date employees are about online dangers, it’s time to set clear, achievable goals for your cybersecurity awareness program. The aim is to create a project roadmap that will guide your efforts, making sure that you’re both tackling the right areas and making measurable progress towards your big picture objectives over time. Breaking up larger goals into smaller deadlines and milestones can also help provide you and your teams with a sense of progress, and motivation.

Example objectives and goals

• Make sure that 100% of your staff engages in cybersecurity training and learning efforts… and refreshes their skills every 90 to 120 days.
• Reduce the number of unsecured devices (i.e. unpatched mobile devices or USB drives) being used inside the organization by 50% within a year.
• Meet with customers and partners on a quarterly basis for educational programs and training sessions to discuss the latest cybersecurity threats.

As you develop your roadmap, think about which efforts can help you make the biggest impact the fastest. If your business regularly handles large amounts of sensitive customer data, your goal might be to improve use of encryption across networks and boost awareness for best practices in data management and governance. Alternately, if you operate in a regulated industry like finance, healthcare or government, making sure that all employees take part in training modules on industry standards like GDPR or HIPAA every 90-120 days might be the priority instead.

Step 3: Create a detailed education and learning curriculum

Once you have assessed your current situation, defined focus areas and priorities, and spelled out big-picture goals for your business, it’s time to start building your training program. You can do this by working backwards from your end objectives, breaking them down into monthly and weekly milestones that can help move you closer towards reaching these goalposts. Note that a strong cybersecurity awareness program should be engaging, informative, and easy to follow, and should provide encouragement and support for team members to keep plugging away at it.

Use a mix of training formats

As you design your training efforts, remember that different employees learn at different paces, and in a variety of different ways. For example, some folks prefer to use self-paced online learning modules, while others might prefer interactive webinars or even hands-on training in the form of live workshops. Offering a variety of learning formats helps make certain that your program can cater to all of your employees. Sample solutions and options might include:

• Online courses: Covering topics like network security, ransomware, data protection, etc.
• Live webinars: Live sessions with trainers, execs and cybersecurity experts on-hand who explore emerging threats and best practices.
• Simulated attacks: Mock phishing attempts or ransomware attacks that you can role-play through to help employees learn by doing and engaging in hands-on activities.
• Workshops: In-person or online sessions where folks can engage in firsthand activities and exercises and ask questions.

Embrace continuous learning

Cybersecurity awareness training shouldn’t be a one-off effort. Just as the nature of digital threats is constantly evolving, your training programs should also offer constant upskilling, reskilling and educational opportunities. It’s important to offer learning sessions no later than every 90 to 120 days to keep employees up to date. A few ideas for promoting a culture of continuous learning in your business include:

• Monthly check-ins: Regularly send out short quizzes, updates, invites to online events, newsletters, or cybersecurity tips to keep employees up to speed.
• Advanced learning programs: On top of basic training, also make a point to offer your teams advanced training and certification options.
• Champion cyber awareness: Call out and recognize folks in different departments as security champions, so you can leverage the help of thought leaders to spread awareness and excitement for best practices. Champions can also help you remind your colleagues why cybersecurity measures and protocols are important to follow.

Step 4: Engage your employees and get them involved

It’s one thing to plot out and design a comprehensive cybersecurity awareness program on paper. But as veteran IT pros know, you’ll also need to get staffers engaged and excited to interact with these efforts if you want the training and education to have a real impact. Noting this, it’s important to make security training programs educational and practical, offering learning and insight that ties concretely to existing workflows within your organization. It’s also vital to make it engaging, interactive, and relevant to day-to-day work efforts and job roles.

Ways that you can boost staff interest

• Employ gamification: Add game-like elements to your training programs, offering rewards or recognition for employees who successfully complete quizzes, identify phishing attempts, or demonstrate excellent security habits.
• Ground examples in real-world scenarios: Base any training examples and exercises on real-life examples and scenarios that your company or other organizations have actually faced. Show employees how their actions and choices make a difference and what consequences can result when we make mistakes.
• Promote peer-to-peer learning: Encourage staffers from every department to connect, collaborate on training exercises, and share stories and tips. A shared approach to training can help promote better communication and collaboration in your organization, and make educational programs feel more personal and less intimidating as well.

Step 5: Analyze, review and adjust your strategies

No good cybersecurity strategy remains static, nor should any related training program: Rather it should change, evolve and improve over time. This means that once your awareness training is up and running, it’s crucial to measure its effectiveness and enhance future efforts in turn. Doing so can help you identify areas for improvement, streamline workflows, boost productively and otherwise generally ensure that your program is most efficiently working towards achieving its goals.

Sample data points and metrics to track

• Simulation and test results: Track how many of your employees fell for simulated cyberattacks and how many successfully responded to these attempts at intrusion, as well as which strategies that staffers successfully employed in turn, and what can be learned from these tactics.
• Incident response times: Monitor how quickly that your employees report suspicious activity or potential breaches, what responses they took to them, and how effective that each of these threat responses were.
• Completion rates: Keep an eye on how many employees are completing your training modules, finishing online courses, or attending cybersecurity awareness workshops.
• Staff feedback: Collect employee feedback through polls, surveys and interviews to understand how effective staffers perceive the program to be and where they think that room for improvement exists.

Promoting cybersecurity awareness in your business

Designing and instituting a successful cybersecurity awareness program isn’t a one-and-done type of task. It requires IT leaders to actively invest in continuous training, regular reskilling updates, and ongoing employee engagement. On the one hand, that means making a point to constantly track and assess your program’s impact and adjust efforts based on new trends, emerging threats, or feedback from employees. On the other hand, it means that culturally speaking, you also need to ensure that senior leaders lead by example and create a welcoming environment where employees feel comfortable speaking up and reporting incidents or mistakes.

By following the above strategies, you’ll be well on your way to building a cybersecurity awareness program that helps get staffers up to speed. You’ll also be a step ahead when it comes to designing a program that employees actually want to interact with and that actively promotes the use of strong security habits within your organization. Again: Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. By empowering your employees with the knowledge and tools needed to protect your organization, you can greatly reduce the odds of digital incidents occurring – and vastly improve your effectiveness at responding to them.