Using Security Awareness to Empower Your Most Important Assets

17th August 2020

You’ve invested time and money into the security of your organisation’s network. You’re protecting everything from your data to endpoints and networks. So, it’s no surprise that your IT department throws its hands up when a happy clicker in your organisation inadvertently launches a malware attack; enticed by what looked like a legitimate link in an email.

The volume of phishing threats continues to increase, and bad actors are getting more sophisticated; often meaning that the look and feel of phishing emails are increasingly authentic.

Over 3.4 billion email scams or phishing emails are sent every day. This adds up to one trillion email scams per year (Security Magazine)
Data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records in the first half of 2019. (RiskBased)
62% of businesses experienced phishing and social engineering attacks in 2018. (Cybint Solutions)
52% of breaches featured hacking, 28% involved malware and 32–33% included phishing or social engineering, respectively (Verizon)

It’s become evident that, frequently, the weakest link in many cybersecurity defences are people. In fact, according to the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Awareness Computer-Based Training, “People influence security more than technology or policy and cyber criminals know how to exploit human behaviours.”

So, while technology continues to evolve, the human element will always be the most unpredictable variable to secure. In order to fortify against people-enabled losses, organisations are turning to security awareness and training programs. Recent events have highlighted an increased need for security awareness as the vast move to a remote workforce has unveiled new, targeted threats that require employees to detect on their own.

Cisco Security Awareness is designed to help promote and apply effective cybersecurity common sense by modifying end-user behaviour. Using engaging and relevant computer-based content with various simulated attack methods, this cloud-delivered product provides comprehensive simulation, training, and reporting so employee process can be continually monitored and tracked; an important part of compliance standards such as HIPAA and GDPR.

Leveraging the power of other leading Cisco Security technologies, Cisco Security Awareness provides a comprehensive and robust defence against phishing attacks.

Analyse your organisation’s security awareness needs and set strategic objectives
Plan your awareness program including phishing simulation, awareness training, communication, and reinforcement plan
Optimise program performance by setting and measuring against strategic metrics and KPIs