Why Employee Training Is Essential for Maintaining Corporate Security

• Blockchain Council
• March 11, 2025

The world dynamics are even more connected today, and people and corporate security are more important than ever. The greater the amount of technology used in business for storing sensitive data and communicating, the greater companies are to cyber threats. The biggest risk, however, is within – a data breach away is a natural byproduct of employees not knowing what they’re doing and not following security policies. This is why it is essential to make sure that corporate security is robust today. Thus, it is important to secure infrastructure and provide employees with proper and continuous training.

Importance of Employee Security Awareness

Many employees are not aware of basic security risks and threats. Without proper training, they will not know how to identify phishing emails, use strong passwords, follow secure data handling procedures etc. For instance, even simple mistakes like just clicking on suspicious links or revealing passwords accidentally can lead to penetrating data/identity theft, financial fraud and ruin. Training makes employees the first line of defense against security incidents.

Studies have determined that around 95% of all data breaches are caused by human error. Proper training eliminates the mistakes that would otherwise be made by employees because they are ignorant. It also increases their attentiveness to unusual activities that could be a security threat. Such issues are caught early, and incidents can be prevented.

Training additionally reduces security risks that come from disgruntled employees. It promotes greater awareness regarding company policies, data access guidelines etc., so that employees are less likely to overstep their authority.

Maintaining Compliance with Laws and Regulations

Training also helps companies comply with many data privacy and security regulations apart from managing internal risks. Included in this list are classic laws such as GDPR and HIPAA, along with industry corrective laws related to the finance and healthcare sectors.

 

Most such regulations require companies to train employees in security topics relevant to their appropriate roles. Training could prevent heavy fines, which non-compliance can result in. It also keeps employees up to date on the latest compliance guidelines regarding data handling, storage, access control, etc.

New Cyber Threats and Attack Vectors

The cyber threat landscape evolves rapidly, with new threats emerging constantly. Unless employees learn about these changes, they will remain unaware of updated scam techniques, changing attack vectors and how to respond.

For example, ransomware, supply chain attacks, deepfakes, and other such threats were not well known a few years ago. Employee training teaches employees how to defend themselves against modern attack methods, such as phishing, social engineering, and malware. It also reviews security hygiene regarding passwords, Wi-Fi, and public computers.

Ongoing training is essential for keeping employees updated about the latest cyber risks relevant to the company. This reduces the chances of the workforce being caught unaware by a novel or unfamiliar threat.

Vulnerabilities from New Tools and Technology

When businesses adopt new tools, software or technology, it often introduces fresh vulnerabilities into the technology ecosystem. Many employees may utilize these incorrectly – accessing cloud data without VPNs, exposing passwords, or misconfiguring access controls.

Continuous training gives employees guidance on using new tools securely without creating any potential security holes. It instructs them on best practices related to access, data storage, access control etc. Training is essential to maintain security whenever new software or hardware is deployed.

Secure Onboarding for New Employees

New hires are a vital touchpoint in establishing security expectations for employees. This is to ensure they have the required awareness of the company security policies, password hygiene and data management even before they start work.

This creates a company security culture from the beginning. It provides best practices for each employee’s role, such as secure software usage for developers and data access guidelines for customer support. New hires should be strong onboarding trained to plug security gaps that inexperienced new hires may leave.

Cost of Security Breaches

Employee training delivers substantial ROI when it comes to security. The average cost of a corporate data breach can easily run into millions of dollars when factoring in things like lost business, legal/regulatory impacts and recovery costs. Proper training minimizes the chances of such an incident in the first place.

Research shows that a company that trains employees regularly in the areas of concern usually yields lower data breach costs per record than the same company that does not. With the potential costs of incidents so great, training is money well spent in helping to make the overall security program stronger.

Creating a Security-First Culture

Comprehensive training involves teaching best practices and encouraging and driving organizational cultural change. When security is part of employees’ everyday work at all company levels, it is present throughout the company.

Such a security-focused culture minimizes risks such as social engineering attacks, data leaks, unauthorized access, etc. This makes employees much more conscious of possible problems and much more likely to report suspicious activities immediately. Also, when someone can infect a system because they hold a security job, a strong security culture can make this kind of insider system attacker very unlikely.

Continuous training through various means, like seminars, events, and communications, can help nurture this culture. It signals to employees that security is treated as an organizational priority rather than an afterthought.

Main Elements of Employee Security Training

Now that we have seen its importance let us look at the key aspects that effective security training for employees must cover:

Security policies and basics

• Password hygiene
• Secure internet/email usage
• Access control guidelines
• Data protection (encryption, storage etc.)
• Incident reporting procedures

Compliance training

• Important regulations like HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR etc.
• Guidelines for handling regulated data like healthcare records, cardholder information etc.
• Secure technology usage
• Cloud software, VPNs, collaboration tools
• Accessing corporate networks/resources securely

Threat awareness

• Phishing, social engineering, ransomware, malware etc.
• Latest attack techniques and trends
• Identifying suspicious emails, links, attachments 

Protecting mobile devices

• Separate work and personal apps/data
• WiFi security, encryption, strong device passwords

In addition, the training should clearly define the responsibilities of employees regarding security. It should also be aligned with the learner’s role; for example, software developers may need more technical training than human resources.

Key Training Challenges and How to Address Them

There are some unique obstacles to delivering regular, high-quality training consistently across the organization. Here are the main challenges businesses face:

Getting Leadership Buy-In

Business leaders often consider security training an unnecessary expense. The result of this is lousy programs with lousy attendance and engagement. Training ROI and breach cost data can show value and get leadership backing with a simple metric gathering.

Maintaining Consistency

Rolling out training across multiple locations and large teams makes consistency difficult. Varied content and delivery quality lead to uneven security capabilities. Centralizing training strategy under dedicated resources and utilizing online training aids consistency.

Sustaining Engagement

Pure lecture-based training quickly becomes boring. Lack of interactivity leads to poor recall and engagement. Training should utilize the principles of gamification, personalization, and micro-learning to keep employees interested through online quizzes, social sharing, and friendly competition.

Tracking Effectiveness

Little follow-up is often conducted regarding training effectiveness after employees take courses. This risks developing security blind spots or gaps that go unnoticed. Using online training platforms makes it easier to track metrics like completion rates, test scores, and participant feedback to pinpoint areas for improvement.

The Importance of Ongoing, Regular Training

While onboarding or compliance training may occur only periodically, core cybersecurity training must occur continuously. After all, threats like phishing and social engineering remain persistent risks for enterprises. Just having training once a year leaves employees exposed, and forgotten guidance can also degrade over time.

Here are compelling reasons why training cannot be one-and-done:

• Frequent password policy changes need to be communicated to employees
• Employees tend to get complacent about threats without reminders
• Forgotten policies lead to more security incidents
• New employees join the organization all the time needing training
• The cyber threat landscape evolves incredibly fast

Incorporating regular short bursts of training via online modules and gamified quizzes helps bring points home more efficiently than lengthy annual sessions. Also, microlearning using videos or podcasts that are 5 to 10 minutes long may provide better information to busy employees rather than attending long and boring lectures.

Ongoing training also allows employees to clarify any doubts they may have about company security policies. When employees forget protocols, continuous training serves as a reliable refresher.

Tracking metrics like phishing click rates and compliance violations over time shows if training is having the desired impact of a more security-conscious workforce.

Best Practices for Impactful Training

For maximum results, businesses should keep the following training best practices in mind:

• Personalize training by department/role to focus on relevant threats
• Reinforce concepts through microlearning to aid recall
• Make training engaging through gamification principles
• Set completion quotas for employees to encourage participation
• Get leadership to attend first to signal importance and set an example
• Partner with experts to develop updated, quality content
• Supplement with physical events like seminars, talks
• Ensure training is mobile-friendly for access from anywhere
• Evaluate training regularly using surveys, tests 
• Incentivize employees by integrating training with performance reviews

The optimal training methodology combines multiple formats, such as videos, gamified quizzes, and instructor-led sessions. Training should scale across the organization while accounting for role-specific needs by function, seniority level, etc.

Conclusion

Today, one of the biggest vulnerabilities companies face is employee behavior. Technical solutions are important, but they can only go so far if employees aren’t security savvy.

Providing comprehensive training provides an extra layer of protection around the human element, i.e., getting human defenses more firmly under our control through setting secure mindsets, upskilling staff about the latest threats, keeping compliance high and creating good cybercultures. It is essential to close the employee security gap.

As threats are becoming more and more large and complex, training needs to evolve into an always-function. To combat persistent cyber risks, the programs need to be consistent and ongoing each day. Metrics integration allows businesses to validate the training ROI and reinforces that which works.

In other words, employee training is a part of any good cybersecurity strategy. Incidents stemming from employee behavior are the most difficult to overcome, and failing to train staff adequately leaves them open to attack. Continuous, role-specific learning opportunities are investments that make employees a company’s biggest cyber asset.