Cyber Security Awareness Training for Small Business

Cybersecurity attacks often make the news headlines; usually, reports talk about large enterprises hit by ransomware, data theft, and being impacted by significant financial losses. However, the focus on large enterprises is misleading. Small businesses and small to medium companies (SMBs) are as much at risk of a cyber-attack as their larger counterparts. According to the latest Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), 61% of SMBs were the target of a cyber-attack in 2021.  

Cyber security awareness training is a security measure that empowers business owners and their employees to stop cyber-attacks before they harm a company. Below, TitanHQ explains why cyber security awareness training is vital to protect your company from scammers and hackers.

The Types Of Cyber Risks Small Businesses Encounter 

Verizon has published its DBIR for over 15 years. This type of longitudinal study allows Verizon to track trends and use these to highlight core issues. The DBIR provides a snapshot that focuses on small business risks. The results of the 2022 DBIR small business snapshot show that 98% of breaches of small companies come from three patterns:

1. System Intrusion
2. Social Engineering 
3. Privilege Misuse 

These patterns lead to ransomware (in almost 80% of cases), misuse of stolen credentials, and phishing. The DBIR paints a stark warning about the situation of small businesses:

Threat actors have the “we’ll take anything we can get” philosophy regarding cybercrime. These incidents can and have put small companies out of business.

Other analysts have waded in on the cyber threats to small businesses. For example, ENISA (European Union Agency for Cybersecurity) describes a new breed of cyber-attack, threatening small companies known as a Ransom Denial of Service (RDoS). ENISA says these threats are “the new frontier of denial-of-service attacks.” RDoS involves denial of service and financial extortion, a mix of DDoS and ransomware. Ransomware, credential theft, and emerging cyber-attacks typically involve some form of social engineering and phishing. 

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks also target small businesses, according to one report into BEC fraud. The researchers found a 145% increase in small to medium (SMB) sized organizations targeted by malicious emails.

To add weight to this, according to the FBI’s latest Internet Crime Report, phishing continues to dominate the crime types reported to the department. 

Source: FBI

The evolution of cyber-attacks to a more complex mix of techniques and tactics, exploiting employees, is one way that makes detecting and responding to these threats complicated. However, the role of a human being in the cyber-attack chain is a point at which a small business can take control. 

This is where cyber security awareness training can empower small companies.

61% of SMBs were the target of a cyber-attack.

Data Breach Investigations Report

Cyber Security Awareness And The Small Company

The DBIR points out that a human factor is behind 82% of data breaches. This knowledge allows organizations to take control of cybersecurity back into their hands. Cyber security awareness training involves education and training of employees across a variety of cyber security areas, including:

Phishing: emails and other forms of communication, such as mobile text messages, are an entry point for hackers. Cyber security awareness training provides employees with an understanding of how phishing works and what cybercriminals do to manipulate employees into clicking malicious links or downloading infected attachments in emails. In addition, some training solutions, such as SafeTitan, come with an automated simulated phishing component that uses fake phishing emails to focus on specific phishing threats.

Password Hygiene and Security: passwords are at high risk of accidental and malicious exploitation. Cyber security awareness training will teach employees about the pitfalls of password sharing, how to create strong passwords, and how to protect passwords.

Social Engineering: social engineering is often used to manipulate employees into sharing information that can then be used to hack into computer systems. Social engineering takes many forms, and employees need education on the tricks attackers use to manipulate their behavior.

Web Security: safe internet use is crucial in protecting an organization. Employees need to understand the fundamentals of safe internet use and how to spot potential malicious websites.

Mobile Security: cyber attackers exploit any channel a human uses; this includes mobile devices. Employees should be taught about mobile app security, safe internet use from a mobile device, and other mobile-relevant security issues.

Other Security Training Considerations for a Small Business 

Security training is much like training in other aspects of work. A cyber security awareness training program should involve the following:

• Regular sessions to emphasize and reinforce learning.
• Collection of metrics to analyze the effectiveness of the training and allow for adjustments to improve outcomes.
• Behavior-based training to reflect behavior-focused cyber-attacks and social engineering tactics of attackers.
• Roles-based training that provides tailored training. Attackers often target specific roles, so train employees on the risks affecting their position.

How Can SafeTitan Help Small Businesses?

Cybersecurity awareness training may seem like another drain on the resources of a small organization, but it does not have to be. SafeTitan is designed to be used by smaller organizations, priced to be affordable, and deployable by the company itself or by a managed service provider (MSP). 

The benefits offered by SafeTitan to small businesses include the following:

Easy To Deploy and use: small companies need the bandwidth or security staff to install and manage complex systems. SafeTitan has been designed to be easy to install and use. At-a-glance dashboards make configuration and training simple. However, an MSP can also offer SafeTitan to make getting world-class security awareness training even more straightforward.

Simulated Phishing: SafeTitan has an easy-to-use simulated phishing platform with thousands of ready-to-use phishing templates. Phishing templates can be modified to deliver targeted emails to roles such as IT admin, accounts payable employees, or the CEO.

Contextual Learning: contextual feedback during a training session is essential for employees as it provides a deeper understanding of the impact of phishing.

Real-Time Metrics: SafeTitan metrics are displayed using an easy-to-understand interface which provides deep insights into how your employees are doing; are they still clicking on links in simulated phishing emails? Do they understand the use of secure passwords, etc? Small business owners can use these metrics to focus on problem areas that otherwise result in a ransomware attack or stolen login credentials.

Exceptional Support: whether using an MSP or SafeTitan directly, TitanHQ offers outstanding support to ensure your business gets the best out of our solutions.

If you’d like to see how SafeTitan could empower your employees and secure your company, sign up for a free SafeTitan demo.