The Biggest IT Security Training Mistakes

Published On: August 2nd, 2018Categories: blogBy KJ Technology

Giving all of your employees IT security training has become an important part of protecting businesses from data theft, malware, and other security threats. By 2021, damage caused by cybercrime is expected to cost companies $6 trillion per year.

With so much money on the line, it makes sense to train your employees so they can spot potential threats from malware and phishing techniques used by cybercriminals.

Unfortunately, many companies take the wrong approach to training their staff. Avoid these 3 mistakes so you can protect your company without putting an undue burden on your organization.

1. Expecting Employees to Learn the Nitty-gritty of IT Security

Employees that don’t work on your IT team don’t need to learn the technical details of IT security threats. If you include too many details, then you’ll make it harder for people to remember the most important parts of your training seminar.

You can simplify your approach by focusing on actionable advice that employees can use. For instance, if you’re training employees who might encounter security threats through email, you might want to concentrate on issues such as:

Recognizing the calling cards of phishing emails.
Understanding how criminals use social engineering to obtain information.
Knowing the dangers of downloading email attachments.

You can’t expect your employees to understand the specifics of how ransomware, viruses and other types of malware operate – but you can expect them to learn how to identify the core security risks.

By focusing on what’s useful, you make it much easier for your employees to take the proper steps when they encounter potential threats.

2. Forgetting to Focus on the Audience

The IT security training seminar that you give a group of customer service representatives shouldn’t match the workshop that you give a group of engineers. Even though you may want to provide the same advice, you need to give each group real-world examples that match their day-to-day experiences.

An engineer who spends all day developing new products probably doesn’t need a 15-minute discussion about social engineering. He or she will get bored quickly because the information doesn’t have much relevance to the job. A customer service rep who answers phone calls all day, however, almost certainly needs that instruction because they interact with so many people.

Craft your IT security training to match the experiences and needs of each group. That way, you can keep them interested and make it easier for them to retain the training that they need most.

3. Putting Too Much Pressure on Employees to Notice Security Threats

Employees are the biggest threat to your company’s cybersecurity.

If you have malware on your network, then there’s a good chance that it came from an employee who fell for a scam or visited a malicious website.

Because employees are the weak link in security, many companies think that the fix is to put pressure on staff to notice and avoid these security threats. While that’s an understandable response, it’s a somewhat misguided attempt to prevent security attacks.

The fact of the matter is that your average employee will never learn how to identify and report 100% of incoming security threats. Putting that responsibility on them is unfair.

Instead, your training should help workers limit the number of threats to your business. While it should be your first line of defense, it shouldn’t be all that’s protecting your business. You need to combine training with reliable cybersecurity tools to keep your data safe and sound.

Test the Right Way with the Help of KJ Technology

IT security training needs to play a big role in protecting your company. If you’re going to implement training measures, you need to make sure that they’re thorough and effective.

That’s where we can help you.

We can work with your organization to create a security training strategy that improves your cybersecurity posture. That means having safer data by encountering less threats, saving you time, money, and frustrations.

Interested in learning more? We’d love to have a chat with you today.