How to Choose Security Awareness Programs for Employees
01.06.2020
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Keeping your organization safe starts from educating your employees properly. In this article, we will discuss how you can choose a suitable security awareness program for your employees.
Every day, hackers and cyber attackers come up with new techniques and tools to find their way into the systems and networks of your organization. From malware to viruses, phishing to computer worms, there are many red flags to be wary of. Finding the right software, implementing the necessary measures and creating security protocols are very essential to keeping your business safe yet the most important aspect of cyber security is training your employees. In this article, we will discuss how you can train your employees to teach them about security issues and how you can choose a security awareness program for them.
What is a security awareness program?
A security awareness program is a carefully planned, formal training program whose aim is to train employees regarding the potential threats to the safety and security of an organization and its assets.
The goal of a security awareness program is to offer your employees essential information on how to avoid various situations that can potentially put the organization’s data at risk.
What should I consider before choosing a security awareness program?
Firstly, you must tackle the language issue. If you are working in an international organization, you must make sure that the training is available for all your employees. In which language is it? Are there proper material for all your employees? Will they be able to follow?
If your employees speak different languages, you will need to make sure that you offer that is available for at least the majority of your workforce, but the best case scenario is finding a security awareness program available in different languages so that all your employees can benefit from it.
In addition to the language, you must also pay attention to the following factors as well:
Customizability: Will you be able to customize the training in accordance with your needs and new threats?
The scope: How lengthy will the training be? Will it be a 10-minute video, or will it be a 6-hour program? In order to answer this question, you must first decide what the risks that you want to educate your employees about are.
Also, you must also consider that shorter, simpler programs are significantly easier to distribute and implement. You can e-mail a 10-minute video to everyone in the organization but a 6-hour course needs serious organization.
The cost: How much are you willing to spend on this security awareness program? Is providing a thorough training for your employees cost efficient?
Also, a security awareness program must be uniquely designed for your employees. The level of information and style of register suitable for cyber security team and accounting team are very different from one another. That is why, you must make sure that the training is easy to follow for your employees and will resonate with its intended receivers.
