Actionable Tips To Build An Effective Security Awareness Training Program

Security Awareness Training must be a board-level issue in order to receive the attention it deserves. Boards of directors in an increasing number of organizations are paying much more attention to security.

Fremont, CA: One of the most serious threats to an organization's information security is not always a flaw in the technological control environment. Employees and other personnel, on the other hand, can cause security incidents through their actions or inactions, such as disclosing information that could be used in a social engineering attack, failing to report unusual activity, accessing sensitive data unrelated to the user's role without following proper procedures, and so on. Organizations must implement a security awareness program to make sure that employees understand the importance of protecting sensitive information, what they should do to handle information securely, and the risks of improper information handling.

Selecting a Leader, Establishing Baseline Awareness

The first step in creating a formal security awareness program is to assemble a security awareness leader who will be in charge of the program's development, delivery, and upkeep. By delegating responsibility for the program, the presence of a leader will help ensure the success of the security awareness program.

With a leader in place to advocate for progress, it is important to establish a baseline level of awareness for all personnel, which will serve as the foundation of the security awareness program. All employees, regardless of role, should receive basic security awareness training developed in accordance with organizational policy.

Training Board Members, Leadership, and All Roles

Security Awareness Training must be a board-level issue in order to receive the attention it deserves. Boards of directors in an increasing number of organizations are paying much more attention to security. A board of directors that prioritizes security will go a long way toward strengthening an organization's security training program. Obtaining management support to fund and encourage security awareness training is crucial to creating not only good security training programs but also a corporate culture that values security. Eventually, training should be consistent with corporate culture.

After we've established the fundamentals, we can move on to role-based security awareness, which offers personnel training at the appropriate levels based on their job functions. Individuals should be grouped according to their organizational roles when scoping a role-based security awareness program (job functions). Then, by utilizing role-based training, you can meet the unique needs of the people in your organization – addressing challenges, answering questions, and providing training that is aligned with their job responsibilities and expectations. Role-based security awareness training shows your employees that you recognize and appreciate the unique challenges and demands they face on a daily basis. This shows your employees that you care about their specific needs and are doing everything possible to help them.