14 Pro Tips To Help You Create A Security Awareness And Training Policy
Information security is essential for all small and large businesses. Information security programs are an indispensable component of any risk management plan. A security awareness training program can help employees identify cyber threats and understand their risks. It offers basic computer usage policy information, and it also has targeted courses that address topics such as data classification and network access safety. Security awareness efforts may take a variety of forms. It could be games, video presentations, or webinars (online seminars).
Why is Information Security Awareness and Training Important?
All organizations that need to store sensitive data must be aware of the potential consequences if they are negligent about their security procedures. They can take steps to raise awareness and improve training for their employees.
Once your employees understand the importance of data security, they will take precautions with sensitive data. It will help your organization stay protected and prevent you from getting in legal trouble.
Organizational Culture Change
Security awareness and training programs are an opportunity to help your organization change its culture around data security. Many firms regard data security as a purely technological issue:
IT staff members handle security issues, while other employees ignore the topic or believe it does not apply to their daily work. It can create culture employees don’t feel comfortable asking questions or raising concerns about data security.
In many cases, employees don’t feel free to report violations or they don’t know how to stick out their problems. If their training programs can teach the importance of data security, it would also result in organizational changes that benefit your security posture.
Network Security Awareness
Employees with knowledge of network security threats are finding it easier to reach their goals.
Network security awareness training can help employees understand potential threats to network security, identify valuable assets, recognize current threats, and recognize familiar cybersecurity tools and best practices.
Network security awareness training helps organizations better prepare for network threats. You will have employees who are more likely to recognize signs of malicious activity and so do not put themselves or your company at risk.
Computer User Awareness
Computer user awareness helps employees understand the potential risks of using computers in the office or remotely.
Computer user awareness training can help employees understand potential threats to computer security, recognize valuable computers and data, and recognize current threats.
Computer training and awareness can help you identify risks associated with computer use, teach your employees how to identify malicious activity, and prevent risky behavior.
Data Security Awareness
Data security awareness training can help employees understand the potential risks of storing or transmitting sensitive data. Data security awareness training can cover data classification standards, authentication, and password management.
With a better understanding of the risks associated with data use, your employees will be more likely to recognize signs of malicious data activity, avoid risky behavior, and otherwise protect sensitive data.
Information Security Awareness Helps Employees Understand What to Look For
Information security awareness training helps employees understand what to look for when identifying potential threats. It can include malicious websites, improper use of email and other data-transfer protocols, and wrong data storage methods.
Computer users can learn to recognize malicious websites by watching for distinctive URLs and checking domain registration information.
Email users and data managers can learn to identify malicious emails, requests for information, and unapproved or unnecessary data transfers or storage. Employees can report suspicious or threatening events more easily.
Network and Data Usage Awareness Helps Employees Identify Risky Behaviors
Network and data usage awareness training can help employees identify risky network and data behavior. It can show employees what they’re doing wrong by using personal devices for work, transferring sensitive or protected data to unapproved recipients, or storing sensitive data in unapproved locations.
Employees with knowledge of data classification will know whether data transfers are obedient to organizational standards. Network and data usage awareness training can cover topics like authentication and password management, data encryption, data transfer, and remote access.
Making employees more aware of how to avoid risky behaviors will help your company follow compliance standards.
Computer and Network Usage Training Teaches Employees How to Stay Safe
Computer and network usage training can help employees learn how to stay safe using computers and networks. Tips to protect your computer and networks can cover things like avoiding suspicious websites or handling security incidents when they occur.
Computer and network usage training can get training on topics like computer security settings, data backup, and authentication and password management. With a better understanding of how to protect themselves, your employees will be able to avoid malicious activity and respond when they are victims of a data breach or other security incident.
Assisting in Disaster Recovery and Computer Recovering
Computer and network usage training can help employees understand how to assist in disaster recovery efforts and what to do if their computers fail or become corrupted.
It can include allowing employees to comprehend how to properly shut down computer systems or transfer data to secondary storage during an outage and how to report network issues that interrupt service.
Learning how to prevent outages and keep your services functioning even when interruptions occur may help your personnel become better prepared for future changes arise.
How to Implement Your ISAT Policy
There are a few ways you can implement your ISAT policy. You can distribute physical copies of the policy to employees and include them in their onboarding packet.
You can create a digital version of the approach and make it accessible to all employees by having it on your company intranet. You may even want to add it to your employee handbook if it applies to every employee. If you’re using a tool to deliver training sessions, ensure your employees know where to find the information to keep up to date.
Ensure your employees know your ISAT policy is non-negotiable, and ensure they know it’s their responsibility to read, understand, and follow the rules.
Know Your Audience
If you don’t know your target audience, you have no way of knowing whether your security program is effective. We customize training plans so that employees are better able to succeed. Creating a profile of your target audience will also help you tailor your ISAT policy to their specific needs. Here are some questions to ask yourself when creating profiles of your target audience.
What jobs do your employees perform? What departments do they represent? What education do they have? What level of experience do they have? What cultural considerations do they have? What languages do they speak? What age group do they fall into? What gender makeup do they have? What disabilities do they have?
Some of these factors are directly related to information security, while others are more general. The more you can tailor your ISAT program to your audience’s specific needs and limitations more effective your program will be.
Pick Your Tools
Determine which tools to employ while developing your ISAT policy. You have a few options when it comes to tools, including an in-house training program, an online training program, or an eLearning program. An in-house training program is probably the best choice for smaller businesses, but larger organizations may need the flexibility of online training or eLearning.
Here are a few things to consider as you decide which tool to use for your ISAT policy.
How much does each tool cost?
What is the return on investment?
What format does each tool use?
How long does each course take?
What is the ease of use?
Does each tool integrate with other systems?
Not every device is suitable for every organization, but don’t settle for a sub-par training program just because it’s easy. Believe in your organization’s needs, and choose a tool that meets those needs.
Define the Frequency of Training Sessions
You have to decide how often your employees need training. The best way to make that decision is to think about how often people forget things. The rule of thumb is to train people as often as they fail. If employees forget something often enough, they stop taking it seriously. You can’t put your organization at risk because someone forgot a single thing.
Here are some guidelines for how often to have training sessions.
New Employees — New employees need training as soon as possible to get up to speed as quickly as possible. You also want to ensure they know the “right way” to do things right from the start.
Existing Employees — Existing employees also need training but don’t need it as often. You want to ensure they remember the “right way” to do things, but you don’t want to overwhelm them with new information.
Define the Topics for Each Session
Each training session should cover a specific topic. You can also include the date of the session and a subject in your ISAT policy. You may want to include links to helpful resources. Here are some items to consider in your ISAT policy:
The Basics — Employees should understand the basics of data and why it is valuable to our company. These concepts are incredibly crucial for employees who work on the blockchain.
Data Flow — Employees need to understand how data moves through the organization. Data engages employees in the most rewarding activities and generates data-driven insights that can improve business processes, productivity, and employee satisfaction.
Risk Assessment — Employees need to be able to identify, assess and mitigate risks. They should understand the types of risk. Knowing what the risk of inaction is is also important.
Define Penalties for Non-Compliance
Non-compliance means people don’t follow the rules. The penalties for non-compliance should be apparent, but not discouraging. Most organizations implement a compliance grading system; this allows you to know where someone stands on their progress and how they are doing about what needs to complete. You may want to consider the following penalties.
Reprimand — A simple reprimand might be all that’s needed if an employee misses a single training session.
Warning — When an employee has to remind to follow corporate policies, a warning might be issued.
Written Warning — Employees that violate the rules should be informed, but they might need to give a warning first.
Termination — Termination should only use in extreme cases, such as when an employee refuses to comply after receiving multiple warnings.
Conclusion
Security is a continuous process. Organizations must be vigilant about protecting sensitive data and systems to stay compliant! Security awareness and training are necessary to keep up with industry regulations, such as PCI-DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, HITRUST, NERC, FERC, and FISMA. Security awareness and training are integral parts of any company’s security system. The training programs can help the employees understand how to access networks, identify a data classification standard, and become aware of potential cyber threats. They also ensure that they are not helpless in the case of a security crisis.
Ready to Streamline Compliance?
Building a secure foundation for your startup is crucial, but navigating the complexities of achieving compliance can be a hassle, especially for a small team.
SecureSlate offers a simpler solution:
- Affordable: Expensive compliance software shouldn’t be the barrier. Our affordable plans start at just $99/month.
- Focus on Your Business, Not Paperwork: Automate tedious tasks and free up your team to focus on innovation and growth.
- Gain Confidence and Credibility: Our platform guides you through the process, ensuring you meet all essential requirements, giving you peace of mind.
Get Started in Just 3 Minutes
It only takes 3 minutes to sign up and see how our platform can streamline your compliance journey.
