Did you know that October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month? This month is the perfect time to discover ways to keep our systems more secure to prevent cyber attacks or data breaches from affecting our businesses and businesses that we interact with from all over. Businesses and individuals are encouraged to take time this month to focus on making their online accounts and systems safer, keeping in line with this year’s theme: Secure Our World.
As a business owner, you can do your part to make our society’s ever-growing online presence more secure by teaching your staff about cyber safety and keeping them informed and aware. These simple steps will help you create a strong cybersecurity awareness program for your team and secure your section of our world.
1. Secure Executive Support
Executive support is crucial for the success of any cybersecurity awareness program. Be sure to get other managers, owners, etc. involved in and excited about your plans so you’ll have the necessary resources for your program. Having support from the top of the company will also promote a culture of awareness, as the executives can set the example for the rest of the team.
2. Identify Main Risks
A cybersecurity awareness program will be most useful when it’s relevant to your company’s security needs. Run audits and risk assessments to get an idea of which attacks your organization is most likely to face. Then, focus your goals and training materials on understanding and combating these threats.
3. Make Goals
Setting clear, specific goals is essential for an effective cybersecurity awareness program. Determine what specific knowledge and skills you want employees to learn, such as identifying phishing emails or properly managing passwords.
Don’t forget to make your goals time sensitive so that you stay motivated: How often will we hold trainings? How long after launching the program should team members be able to put skills into practice? Be as detailed as possible when creating your goals to help measure progress, and be willing to make adjustments along the way.
4. Plan and Hold Engaging Trainings
The core of any cybersecurity awareness program is the training itself, so it’s important to be intentional as you plan and carry it out. Here are some tips for making your trainings effective and meaningful for your team members¹:
- Share true stories and provide specific real-world applications and consequences for each topic. This will help your staff understand why cybersecurity matters and encourage them to put what they learn into practice.
- People learn in different ways, so try using different kinds of media to promote awareness. In-person meetings, brief videos, modules, newsletters, instant messaging channels, posters, or simple 5-minute cybersecurity tips at the beginning of other meetings can all work well.
- No matter the form you choose, keep trainings short and sweet. Too much instruction at once can be overwhelming, and employees will check out and retain less information.
- Don’t be afraid to make it fun. Use short games to quiz employees on what you covered in a training session, have them divide into teams and race to “solve” a cybersecurity scenario, give prizes to everyone who completes virtual trainings, etc.
In the end, the best trainings are those that work well in your company and help your team feel more cybersecurity savvy. Keep experimenting and be open to making changes until you find what works for you.
5. Check Efficacy and Retention
Confirm your team’s understanding of cybersecurity policies and practices by running regular cyber attack simulations. This gives everyone a chance to practice identifying and responding to threats and helps you identify what concepts need to be reinforced. Afterwards, compare results to your goals and make any necessary adjustments to training materials and methods.
6. Implement Continual Training
One of the most important aspects of a cybersecurity awareness program is making sure it becomes habit-forming and not a one-time thing. Be consistent with trainings and simulations to make sure cybersecurity remains at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Refer back to your goals and keep making small improvements as you work towards them.
Bonus Tip: Get Help From the Pros
Creating a culture of cybersecurity awareness is a big job that requires a lot of time, energy, knowledge, and tools. And when your plate is already full with normal business operations, recruiting help from a reliable partner is the ideal solution.
With an IT expert’s thorough industry knowledge, threat intelligence, and analysis tools, you can work together to develop a personalized cybersecurity awareness program for your company. And with access to advanced security methods, simulations, and training materials, your employees’ cybersecurity awareness and preparedness will be better than ever before.
Spark Awareness with Brightline IT
At Brightline IT, we’re all about looking to the future and seeing how your technology can make it brighter. But without proper safety and awareness, technology can leave your organization vulnerable and unprotected.
With Brightline IT, you can enjoy in-depth employee training that’s designed to match a variety of learning styles, ongoing support and follow-up, first-rate cybersecurity systems, and so much more. We have everything you need to build an effective cybersecurity awareness program and keep your business safe. Submit a form on our website to get started.
