Security culture is a phrase heard often in the cybersecurity industry, but how easy is it for organisations to achieve a strong one?
A strong security culture goes beyond technology. People are the key to keeping organisations secure. When security culture becomes part of everyday life and engages every part of the team, the likelihood of employees being able to identify risks is far higher.
When security is embedded in daily operations, staff are far less likely to fall victim to threats or engage in risky activities. But how are businesses achieving and maintaining a strong security culture? This article explores this question.
Breaking down security culture
KnowBe4 is leading the way regarding security culture, strengthening it for thousands of organisations worldwide. Their extensive research and experience across a breadth of industries has resulted in them breaking down security culture into seven key areas:
- Attitudes – Looking at how employees feel about security measures.
- Behaviours – The actions employees take that impact an organisation's security, whether directly or indirectly.
- Cognition – Employees’ understanding and awareness of security threats.
- Communication – The effectiveness of security discussions and incident reporting within an organisation.
- Compliance – How well employees know, understand and follow written security policies.
- Norms – Employees' understanding of the unwritten security behaviours that are accepted or discouraged within an organisation.
- Responsibilities – How employees see their role in maintaining security and preventing risk from falling on the organisation.
As you can see, there is no one thing that contributes to a strong security culture; it involves consideration across a range of areas and practices that must be implemented to achieve positive outcomes.
Building a strong security culture
Security culture isn't something that can be created overnight; it requires continuous effort, investment, and commitment from the entire team, led from the top.
Like any culture, it is shaped by ideas, customs, and social behaviours. Every organisation has a culture, and security needs to be a natural part of that. First, businesses should evaluate their organisation's security posture—does it encourage open communication about security among the team? Is it led from the top, setting the tone for best practices? And are they investing in ongoing training to keep security at the forefront of everyone’s minds?
Here are some practical steps to take when investing in security culture:
- Conduct regular risk assessments – Risks must be continuously monitored, including human factors that can impact security.
- Consistently examine how to address the key areas of security culture – By working on each aspect of security culture, like the seven dimensions, organisations can make lasting improvements.
- Engage employees with training—Use engaging, automated, and consistent training to keep employees up-skilled and trained to spot risks.
- Communicate security messages often – Align security initiatives with broader business goals and communicate this regularly with employees.
- Collaborate with industry peers—Stay informed about evolving threats by networking with other security professionals and sharing best practices.
Enhancing security culture with KnowBe4
Consistent, regular training is a critical component in building a strong security culture. KnowBe4 is leading the way in this with its security awareness training and phishing simulations platform, which are at the forefront of addressing and managing the ongoing threats of social engineering.
Untrained employees will struggle to recognise sophisticated social engineering tactics, making organisations susceptible to attack. Here’s why KnowBe4 stands out and what organisations will benefit from:
- An extensive library of training content
- Reduced Phish-Prone percentage in 90 days
- Real-world phishing simulations
- Frequently released new training content and phishing email templates
- Access to fast technical support
- Detection of risky end-user behaviour with SecurityCoach
- Risk and compliance training with Compliance Plus
- Insight reporting that details risks and gives visibility of security culture
- Stopping phishing threats before they reach inboxes with PhishER Plus
The benefits of a strong security culture
A strong security culture minimises the exposure to everyday risks and increases awareness of threats and how behaviours can impact vulnerability. A robust security culture requires time and effort, but the entire organisation benefits when employees understand their role in cybersecurity and feel empowered to act securely.
Brigantia and KnowBe4
At Brigantia, we support partners in meeting the recurring training needs of their customers with KnowBe4. The top-tier security training not only educates and contributes to the overall strength of a security culture but also differentiates providers in the market, addressing a critical area of security that can often be overlooked.
To find out more, get in touch with our team.
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