Employee Cybersecurity Training
Cybersecurity awareness training can protect your organization from loss or harm, help you comply with industry regulations, and ensure you meet compliance standards.
There are several ways to provide cybersecurity training to employees, including:
- Live training from your organization's security officer,
- Online training might include learning checkpoints, as part of a training package your organization purchased, emails with instruction and reminders, and
- Simulated attacks.
The type of training that works best for your nonprofit depends on your users, the risks associated with your organization, and the topic to be covered.
Why employee cybersecurity training is important
There are new methods of cybersecurity attacks happening every day. A few years ago, cybercriminals used to specialize in identity theft, but now they take over your organization’s network, hack into your bank accounts, and steal tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Conducting cybersecurity awareness training helps your nonprofit’s employees understand security risks and how to protect the users and data at the organization.
For example, if a user doesn’t understand what multi-factor authentication (MFA) is, how it works, and why it’s implemented, then MFA may feel like just one more technical barrier to being able to get their work done. This can lead to frustration among your employees, resistance to setting up authentication methods, and workarounds that subvert security. Lacking training, users might think the warning "do not share this code with anyone" doesn’t apply to their IT provider, someone who says they’re from the software vendor, or someone else trying to help them troubleshoot—but it does, and understanding this equips them to keep your organization safe from cybercriminals impersonating an IT professional.
How does employee cybersecurity training work?
MFA is just one of many protections and threats employees need to understand. A thorough employee cybersecurity awareness training program will also cover phishing attempts, flash drives, password rules like using complex and unique passwords, and password managers.
To keep everyone up to date on best practices, deliver training in multiple ways. Start with baseline training to define cybersecurity threats and the different forms they may take. However, once is not enough. Because new methods are derived every day, it’s important to provide ongoing training.
KnowBe4 can be set up to run scheduled training campaigns. It also sends simulated phishing attempts, where users receive realistic messages that test their ability to spot phishing. Administrators have access to information such as which users opened the email, which clicked on a link, and which went as far as to put in their credentials. Administrators can then use this information to fine-tune future simulations and to target additional training to specific users based on their actions.
By using KnowBe4 or similar services, employees gain:
- A better understanding of cybersecurity risk
- Familiarity with the nature of phishing attempts
- Increased cybersecurity awareness
- Practice handling cybersecurity issues they encounter during the typical workday
A service like KnowBe4 is not a substitute for a robust employee training program, but it can augment the other training and policies you provide.
Key Take-Aways
There are countless cybersecurity threats and many different ways to expose and educate staff about those threats that are most relevant to your organization. Providing baseline training helps everyone understand methods used by bad actors to gain access to your data, and it also helps employees understand the tools you use to prevent these attacks.
Tools such as KnowBe4 provide staff with real-world examples of what an attack may look like and provide administrators with the information needed to provide even better training.
Begin to understand the risks in your nonprofit organization by investing in a low-cost SecCheck cybersecurity assessment, or schedule an appointment with one of our tech advisors to speak about your cybersecurity needs by completing the form to the right.
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