Business Management

Why Should You Invest in Security Awareness Training?



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When business owners consider cyber security, they often assume that problems can be prevented by keeping current with security software and ensuring that their IT support is top-notch. While that is certainly true, few understand the importance of conducting security awareness training to help ensure that their own team members do not inadvertently put the network in jeopardy.

Far from being a minor contributing factor, recent research has shown that approximately 80% of all business data leaks are caused by human error. All it takes is for one employee to open the attachment of a suspicious email for their computer, and perhaps your entire IT network, to be infiltrated by a malicious program.

Given the immense value of the data stored on your IT systems, it only makes sense to educate your employees, and you may even wish to encourage those who primarily work with computer security to get some form of certification through an exam like the az 500 for Microsoft Azure, for example. Security awareness training will help everyone working under you to recognize and respond to any potential security concerns. Some of the more sophisticated methods used by malicious web users can be tough for even those with a strong understanding of modern technology to spot.

By conducting training for all employees, you’ll drastically reduce the likelihood of a problem occurring. Alongside doing regular cyber security testing, you can also check out similar services available to companies online – your employees should be aware of the danger involved in working with technology. Current security issues will be addressed, and your team will be introduced to general best practices that have been proven to avoid security breakdowns.

As well as ensuring that your business network is as protected as possible, security awareness training will teach your employees how to spot current problems and how to act if one has occurred. You’ll also benefit from being able to state that you gave adequate training in the unlikely event that a security breach does occur – if you fail to conduct training despite handling sensitive information, you could face legal action.

Ultimately, conducting security awareness training once or twice a year is a minor interruption that can prevent your business from facing serious costs in the future. Research has shown that approximately 60% of businesses that experience a cyber-attack go out of business within six months, so cyber security is something about which every team member should be aware.