What Is Cyber Security Awareness Training?
What Is Cyber Security Awareness Training And Why Is It So Important?
Cybersecurity Awareness Training is an essential part of an effective cybersecurity defense. Are your staff members supporting your cybersecurity? Or putting it at risk?
Did you know that more than 90% of cybersecurity incidents can be traced back to human error?
The fact is that what you (and your staff) don’t know could hurt you. If your staff isn’t up to date on the latest cybercrime scams, then they’re putting your data at risk, simple as that.
The key to truly comprehensive cybersecurity is simple, yet often overlooked: the user.
The best cybersecurity technology and practices in the world can be undone by one staff member who doesn’t understand how to use them, or how to protect the data they work with.
3 Cybercrime Scams That Target Unaware Users
Phishing
Phishing is a method in which cybercriminals send fraudulent emails that appear to be from reputable sources in order to get recipients to reveal sensitive information and execute significant financial transfers.
Phishing attacks are mass emails that request confidential information or credentials under pretenses, link to malicious websites, or include malware as an attachment.
With only a surprisingly small amount of information, cybercriminals can convincingly pose as business members and superiors in order to persuade employees to give them money, data, or crucial information.
The average phishing attack costs businesses $1.6 million. The problem with the rising tide of cybercrime incidents is that you get desensitized to the whole thing.
The fact is that businesses aren’t learning to protect themselves, which is why the number of reported phishing attacks has gone up by 65% in the past few years.
Ransomware
In a ransomware attack, an unsuspecting user clicks on a seemingly safe link, or emailed attachment that appears to be a bill or other official document. Instead, the attachment installs a malicious software program (malware) onto the computer system that encrypts the data and holds it at ransom.
The user is then stuck without access to their data, and faced with paying the attacker a huge sum.
According to Coveware’s Q4 Ransomware Marketplace report:
The average ransomware payout is $84,116
The highest ransom paid by a target organization was $780,000
The average ransomware attack results in 16.2 days of downtime
Malicious Websites
Hackers can create fake websites that are set up to look like a real site, but the spelling of the URL or site name contains an error that is easily made by users. For example, an attacker may set up a site with the name “www.gooogle.com” instead of www.google.com.
Users who are not careful may type in an extra ‘o’ in the name and will land on the fake site. From here, the site will record all of the information that you enter into any text or password boxes, which the cybercriminal will then use against you.
What’s The #1 Way To Protect Against Cybercrime Scams?
Cybersecurity Awareness Training is by far the most effective way to defend your organization from phishing, ransomware, and other scams. This method recognizes how important the user is in your cybersecurity efforts.
A comprehensive cybersecurity training curriculum will train users to ask important questions about each and every email they receive:
Do I know the sender of this email?
Does it make sense that it was sent to me?
Can I verify that the attached link or PDF is safe?
Does the email threaten to close my accounts or cancel my cards if I don’t provide information?
Is this email really from someone I trust or does it just look like someone I trust? What can I do to verify?
Does anything seem “off” about this email, its contents, or the sender?
The right training services will offer exercises, interactive programs, and even simulated phishing attacks to test your staff on a number of key areas:
How to identify and address suspicious emails, phishing attempts, social engineering tactics, and more.
How to use business technology without exposing data and other assets to external threats by accident.
How to respond when you suspect that an attack is occurring or has occurred.
At the end of the day, there is no perfect technological solution that will save you from phishing. It all comes down to you (and the other users at your business), and how capable you are at spotting a scam when it comes into your inbox.
We Will Train Your Team To Be Cybersecurity Experts
The good news is that you don’t have to handle cybersecurity training for your team by yourself — happier IT is here to help.
We offer a comprehensive employee Cyber Awareness Training program that combines regular online training, simulated Phishing attacks, and dark web monitoring. This solution is available to our managed services clients and non-managed clients as well!
With our help, your staff will contribute to your cybersecurity, not compromise it.
Here’s how to get started:
Book a cybersecurity consultation with our team at a time that works for you.
Tell us about your organization, its size, and its operations.
We’ll send a phishing simulation and search for compromised passwords on the dark web to create a security baseline, followed by a series of online training and random Phishing simulations to show your staff what they need to know to stay safe.