Automated Security Awareness Training Saves an MSP Time and Money

There’s an old saying that goes, “Time is money.” This proverb is true for most things, and an MSP providing security awareness training (SAT) is no exception. But how does an MSP provide exceptional SAT while saving time and money?

Automation is an area of technology that is proving to be the golden chalice of saving time to save money. Automation covers many areas of a business, improving efficiencies and optimizing a specific operation or process. Automation can also be used in the delivery of security awareness training. With 70% of companies already implementing automation, offering your clients an automated cybersecurity awareness training package will be no surprise and will provide an MSP with a competitive edge, saving them time and money.

What is Security Awareness Training?

Security awareness training is a comprehensive program designed to educate employees about their critical role in safeguarding an organization’s sensitive data and assets from security threats. The primary objective of this training is to foster a robust security culture within the organization, where every employee is aware of potential risks and takes proactive steps to mitigate them. By raising awareness and educating staff on best practices, security awareness training helps to significantly reduce human risk, which is often a major contributor to security breaches. Through regular and engaging awareness training, employees learn to recognize and respond to various security threats, enhancing the organization’s overall security posture.

How is Security Awareness Automated?

Automation covers a comprehensive set of use cases when implementing, deploying, and administering a security awareness training program for clients. 

SAT is much more effective when it is performed regularly. But setting up and deploying regular training sessions and associated tasks such as reporting can take up time and resources, resulting in increased costs to run a program. By automating certain aspects of the training, an organization and an MSP can optimize costs by reducing the time needed to set up and implement security awareness campaigns, thereby enhancing the organization's ability to execute its objectives and mitigate risks associated with cybersecurity threats.

Some of the areas that can be automated by more advanced automated security awareness training platforms include the following:

Automated Phishing Campaigns and Tests

A simulated phishing platform delivers spoof emails and text messages to employees to test their responses. The administrator of the fake phishing campaign configures this platform. This task typically involves choosing the elements of a phishing message, such as:

• Which employees will be targeted by spoof phishing messages?
• What type of phishing message will be sent out?
• The content of the phishing message, including phishing links and spoofed malicious attachments.
• During training, feedback for an employee who clicks a malicious element teaches the employee what could go wrong.

All these elements are typically available from a rich source of preconfigured phishing templates. However, automation of these campaigns takes this process to new optimization levels by generating repeated simulated phishing campaigns with no user intervention. An automated scheduling calendar is used to send out preconfigured campaigns at regular intervals; the process is streamlined, saving time and money and ensuring regular training happens to improve the effectiveness of awareness programs. The campaigns are adjusted using AI to ensure that the simulated phishing program improves effectiveness over time.

Automated Reporting and Reminders

Reporting is integral to security awareness training; reports are used to evidence compliance and offer meaningful insights into awareness training. Also, reminders about training can take lots of time if done manually. An at-a-glance dashboard provides the tool to configure and auto-generate reports, alerts, and reminders. These reports contain information about how campaigns are progressing and can evidence the effectiveness of a training session, demonstrating improved security awareness.

Automated Enrolment

"Risky clickers" are those employees who click on a malicious link or open a dangerous attachment. Identifying these users and adjusting their training sessions would take a long time and create lags in training. Instead, a process known as 'Auto-enrolment 'for risky clickers is used to automatically assign a training simulation that fits the needs of that employee. The ability to automatically recognize risky behavior is an inherent aspect of behavior-driven security awareness training. Using a behavioral event to trigger an automated process to improve a training campaign on a per-user basis is a powerful way to save time and money. 

Research has shown that 79% of employees engage in risky security behaviors.

Creating a Security Awareness Training Program

Creating an effective security awareness training program requires a structured and strategic approach. Here are the essential steps to follow:

1. Identify the Target Audience: Determine who needs to be trained, including employees, contractors, and third-party vendors. Tailoring the training to the specific needs of each group ensures relevance and effectiveness.

2. Assess the Organization’s Risk: Conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify the types of security threats the organization faces and the level of risk associated with each threat. This helps in prioritizing the training content.

3. Develop a Training Plan: Create a detailed training plan that outlines the training program's objectives, scope, and timeline. This plan serves as a roadmap for the entire training initiative.

4. Choose a Training Method: Decide on the most suitable training method, such as online training, classroom training, or a combination of both. The method should align with the organization’s needs and resources.

5. Develop Training Content: Create engaging, interactive, and relevant training content that resonates with the target audience. Incorporate real-world scenarios and practical examples to enhance learning.

6. Implement the Training Program: Roll out the training program to the target audience and provide ongoing support and reinforcement to ensure continuous learning and improvement.

Five Ways Automated Cybersecurity Awareness Training Saves an MSP Time and Money

For MSPs aiming to stay competitive, saving time and money without sacrificing the effectiveness of security awareness training is crucial. Automation enhances cybersecurity understanding and practices among employees through engaging, efficient methods. Here are five reasons why automation outshines manual security awareness training:

1. Free Up Time
Automating repetitive tasks enables MSPs to streamline management of security awareness training (SAT). This frees up time for MSPs to focus on building client relationships, providing support, and designing impactful awareness programs.

2. Automated Reports
With a centralized dashboard, automated reporting simplifies client communication and schedules reports that demonstrate improved security awareness, justifying the value of training.

3. Always-On Security
Research shows that 79% of employees exhibit risky security behaviors. Regular automated, AI-driven phishing simulations help change these behaviors, equipping employees to resist social engineering and phishing attacks. Always-on, automated security saves MSPs time and money.

4. Compliance Made Easy
Automated reports deliver the evidence needed for regulatory compliance and audits. By scheduling automated reports, MSPs avoid micromanagement and offer clients strong compliance support with minimal effort.

5. Effortless Scaling
Automated SAT platforms deploy quickly and are easy to manage with centralized dashboards. Automation and auto-scheduling allow MSPs to “set it and forget it,” with reporting and reminders handled seamlessly. Platforms like SafeTitan can be up and running in under a minute, enabling MSPs to scale with ease.

Measuring Effectiveness

Measuring the effectiveness of a security awareness training program is crucial to understanding its impact and success. Here are some key metrics to track:

1. Participation Rates: Monitor the number of employees who participate in the training program. High participation rates indicate strong engagement and interest.

2. Quiz Scores: Track the scores of employees who complete quizzes or assessments as part of the training program. This helps gauge their understanding and retention of the material.

3. Risk Score: Evaluate the organization’s risk score before and after the training program to determine whether it has effectively reduced the risk of security breaches.

4. Incident Reports: Compare the number of security incidents employees report before and after the training program. A decrease in incidents suggests improved security awareness.

5. User Risk: Assess the user risk score, which measures the likelihood of employees falling victim to security threats. A lower user risk score indicates a more security-conscious workforce.

Choosing the Right Training Service

Selecting the right training service is critical to the success of a security awareness training program. Consider the following factors:

1. Experience: Look for a training service with a proven track record in providing effective security awareness training. Experience ensures reliability and quality.

2. Customization: Choose a training service that offers customized training content and delivery methods tailored to your organization’s specific needs and challenges.

3. Interactive Training: To engage employees and enhance learning, opt for a training service that incorporates interactive training methods, such as gamification and simulations.

4. Positive Reinforcement: Select a training service that uses positive reinforcement techniques to encourage employees to adopt secure behaviors and practices.

5. Additional Training: Consider a training service that provides additional training resources, such as phishing tests and awareness campaigns, to reinforce learning and keep security top of mind.

Overcoming Common Challenges

Overcoming common challenges is essential to the success of a security awareness training program. Here are some typical challenges and solutions:

1. Lack of Engagement: Use interactive training methods like gamification and simulations to capture and maintain employees’ interest and engagement.

2. Limited Resources: Choose a training service that offers cost-effective solutions and flexible delivery methods to accommodate budget and resource limitations.

3. Difficulty Measuring Effectiveness: Use metrics, such as participation rates and risk scores, to measure the training program's effectiveness and demonstrate its value.

4. Limited Buy-In from Executives: Provide executives with data and metrics to illustrate the training program's importance and impact, securing their support and commitment.

5. Difficulty in Sustaining the Training Program: Partner with a training service offering ongoing support and reinforcement to ensure the training program remains practical and relevant.

By addressing these challenges proactively, organizations can create a robust and effective security awareness training program that significantly enhances their security posture.

How TitanHQ SAT Automates Your Security Awareness 

TitanHQ offers easy, affordable security awareness training with real-time phishing simulations, all launched in just a few clicks. Traditional security awareness training programs no longer measure up. Maintaining them requires significant effort, yet they don't enhance security. With TitanHQ SAT, you enjoy a hands-off, set-and-forget experience. Our security experts continually design and schedule security training for your users.

Enable your employees to recognize and report cyber threats through engaging, contextual, and narrative-driven lessons fully managed by TitanHQ. Campaign management and reporting happen automatically in the background.

Why Choose TitanHQ Security Awareness Training?

TitanHQ's automated security awareness solution allows organizations to schedule their security awareness training for the entire year, reducing the risk of human error. With a “set it and forget it” approach, this automation helps CISOs save time and resources.

• Easy: Get up and running in under 5 minutes. No action is required; TitanHQ SAT will automatically add new customers/users.
• Security-Focused Provider: Crafted with insights from our team of industry experts who encounter real-life threats daily and know how to defend against them.
• Automated Phishing Training: TitanHQ security experts continually design and release new phishing simulations that reflect real-world threats.
• Simulated Phishing Scenarios: Keep learners vigilant with realistic simulated phishing scenarios that reflect hackers' current tactics.
• Fully Automated: Enjoy a set-and-forget-it experience where TitanHQ manages continuous campaigns at no additional cost. Add new customers and users to live campaigns in minutes with automatic reporting.
• Impactful stories: Story-based, realistic training grounded in learning science, crafted by a team of world-class designers to ensure learners retain and benefit from the lessons.
• Simple Licensing: With native O365 integration and auto-enrolment, all active users are automatically synced with the solution, ensuring that usage always reflects the current state. Say goodbye to complex reporting—now you have a single, clear view to track licenses effortlessly.
• Simplified Billing: Our transparent billing model simplifies subscription tracking, so you only pay for what you use—no hidden fees or complex invoices.
• Automated Reporting:  Receive detailed monthly summary reports with statistics and actionable insights on your learners' progress. Automated reporting is fully managed for you and will keep you updated on your campaign progress, including when an employee clicks, reports a phish, and so much more.

Book a free demo today if you would like to learn more about TitanHQ SAT for MSPs.