A Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) report stated that their solutions have detected and blocked more than 60 million security threats globally between November 2019 and October 2020. Cybercriminals have become progressively more available to utilize and find different break provisos, as every affiliation has some internet-based presence, making it more straightforward to reap data.
Organizations should play it safe to refine and develop Security Awareness Training to shield themselves from digital dangers. As programmers track down additional ways of taking information, organizations should know what digital dangers look for them. In 2020, industries such as retail, travel, and hospitality attracted a startling 63% of credential stuffing attacks and 41% of web attacks, making it crucial to raise awareness about security threats among the workforce.
Why is it necessary for employees to undergo security awareness training?
Security awareness training programs aim to give workers conventional training to discover potential security dangers and what they can mean for themselves and their association. This training will help employees detect and take necessary precautions to handle cyberattacks. Thus, organizations must ensure their representatives are given appropriate security mindfulness to guard themselves and their resources from network protection dangers.
4 Benefits of Security Awareness Training:
1. Able to Detect Cyberthreats
As hackers have found numerous techniques to phish for information, employees must recognize current cyberattacks and malware activities such as social engineering, cloud-based vulnerabilities, threats related to the working-from-home trend, etc. This training will enable employees to be up to date with the latest cyberattack techniques used by cybercriminals and thus prevent them from falling for these security threats.
2. Cyber Resilient Workplace
Security awareness training will help raise employees’ awareness of the importance of cybersecurity measures, particularly among those not in the cyber field. This will prompt them to regularly practice safe measures when handling organization assets and information and create a cyber-resilient workforce that will ensure more confidence among clients and stakeholders.
3. Compliance
Security awareness training incorporates compliance training such as HIPAA, PDPA, GDPR, and PCI-DSS. Compliance aids in developing policies and enables employees to understand their responsibility when handling organizational information. Your employees need to familiarize themselves with these compliances, even if your organizations are outside these compliance requirements. Security awareness training programs offer convenience in terms of both cybersecurity and compliance training.
4. Enhance Employee Knowledge
Organizations flourish when their employees are well-cared for. Security mindfulness prepares representatives to be secure working and in their lives, giving them fundamental security abilities. This training will benefit not only organizations but also their employees.
Cyberattack Simulations to Include in Your Security Awareness Training:
1. Ransomware Attack
Ransomware is a malicious segment of code a cybercriminal sends to infect files or a system. The attacker will then demand a ransom to restore the access or system to its previous state. Suppose the organization only meets the attacker’s needs after the time given is up. In that case, the assailant will take steps to impede access or have the association’s delicate information distributed in open entrances or places like the Dull Web.
The most significant ransomware attack was the WannaCry Ransomware attack that happened in May 2017 carried out by the WannaCry ransomware crypto worm, which targeted many Microsoft Windows Operating system machines by encrypting their data and demanding a ransom fee in Bitcoin Cryptocurrency. Statistics show that every 14 seconds, an organization gets attacked by ransomware. With government, healthcare, and education institutions victims of this attack, ransomware is now considered a global threat. Therefore, your workforce must be trained to recognize and always take precautions to safeguard your organization’s sensitive data.
2. Phishing Attack
Phishing is a social engineering attack used to steal valuable information such as login credentials, credit card numbers, etc. In a phishing attack, the attacker poses as a legitimate person and tricks the victim into clicking on a malicious link. This leads to installing a pernicious record that might freeze the gadget or uncover critical information.
The most common phishing attack is email phishing, in which the programmer sends messages that contain a connection or a record. At the point when gotten to, such connections and documents might disturb a framework’s handling, move information, or give assailants unapproved admittance to a framework. Another type of phishing attack is spear phishing, in which the attacker attacks a specified individual to steal the victim’s data or remotely install malicious software.
In 2020, statistics showed that over 83% of organizations worldwide experienced phishing attacks. The most costly phishing attack ever occurred on Facebook and Google between 2013 and 2015, where over 100 million dollars were scammed. Their employees were sent multiple phishing emails with fake invoices impersonating their vendor, Quanta, a Taiwan-based company. With big corporations like Facebook and Google falling victim to this attack, it is essential to realize how this attack can happen to big and small corporations alike. Thus, every organization must play its role in implementing training for their employees to avoid falling for malicious phishing attacks.
3. DoS Attack
A DoS attack occurs when access to a service is blocked by overloading its network connections or physical resources. The service is surged with traffic, and access will not be available until the threat is removed.
This attack is often carried out by sending malicious, invalid, and many connection requests to a service’s network. This will then overload the service’s storage and processing space. Consequently, real users will be unable to access the said service. This threat may even lead to physical damage to the service resources.
DoS attacks look for any cyber vulnerability in your website and use it to launch an attack. Malware-infected devices can be used for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Cybercriminals send DoS assaults to crash or dial back a help site, causing organizations critical help margin time that might bring about monetary misfortunes. In 2020, Amazon Web Services suffered DoS attacks sent by one of their unidentified customers, slowed down the service for three days, and suffered revenue losses and consequential damage to their brand.
These cyber-threats may harm your organization and jeopardize your company’s reputation, portraying a security weakness. An organization needs to show that it has adequate measures to safeguard its data and a proper emergency recovery plan. These measures can be implemented if your workforce is given formal training against such threats.
Security Awareness Training Program
Considering the increasing cyber threats around us, the EC Council has developed its own security awareness training program, Aware. Aware is a customizable web and mobile integrated training platform that meets your organization’s needs. This app tracks, reports, and facilitates anytime, anywhere employee training. Click here to find out more about their security awareness training program.
Conclusion
Security awareness training is crucial in safeguarding your organization against cyber threats. You make a human firewall that supplements your mechanical safeguards by instructing workers on perceiving and answering expected dangers. This training helps employees understand cybersecurity, spot phishing, and protect data.
Standard updates and drawing in instructional courses guarantee staff stay watchful and ready for developing dangers. Putting resources into security mindfulness preparation lessens the gamble of information breaks and cultivates a safety culture inside your association. At last, an educated and ready labor force is your best safeguard against security awareness training, guaranteeing the security and honesty of your advanced resources.
What is security awareness training for employees?
Security awareness training is a corporate-wide initiative to help employees identify and avoid cyber threats in the workplace. It's a part of powerful network protection to stop human blunders and insider dangers from causing information breaks.
What is the main goal of security awareness training?
Security awareness training helps prevent and mitigate human risk. Intended to assist clients with understanding the job they play in combatting security breaks, successful security mindfulness preparation educates legitimate digital cleanliness, security dangers, and how to distinguish digital assaults conveyed using email and web perusing.
What is basic security awareness?
Security awareness is the knowledge and attitude members of an organization have concerning the insurance of the physical and, particularly, data resources of that association.
What type of control is security training for IT staff?
Security awareness training for employees also falls under the umbrella of administrative controls. See also Technical control and Physical control.
