Preparing Employees For Cybersecurity Threats With Blended Learning

Strengthen Cybersecurity With Blended Learning

Cyberattacks pose a growing threat in the workplace. According to EY’s 2024 Human Risk in Cybersecurity Survey, 53% of US employees worry their organization will be a target for cybercrime.

You should be concerned, too. A data breach costs time and money and can hurt your brand image, destroying employee and customer trust.

All companies, no matter the size or industry, should prioritize employee security awareness. Unfortunately, many focus only on compliance to meet regulatory requirements. They fail to prepare employees for real-world cyberthreats.

Blended learning, a combination of digital eLearning modules and hands-on simulations, can help you create a more complete training strategy.

Let’s look at how you can use blended learning to make cybersecurity and compliance training more flexible and effective—and prepare employees to take on today’s cyberthreats.

What Is Blended Learning In Cybersecurity Training?

Blended learning combines online and instructor-led training to create a more interactive and effective learning experience. Online learning happens asynchronously, through self-paced modules and learning paths.

The instructor-led training involves in-person or live virtual sessions for things like crisis simulations and role-playing exercises.

Why Blended Learning Is Ideal For Cybersecurity Training

Blended learning lets you offer comprehensive training on the fundamentals of digital safety while staying agile enough to keep up with new threats and policies.

Today’s organizations face numerous cyberthreats (and their consequences), including:

• Malware
• Phishing
• Insider threats
• Data breaches
• Supply chain attacks
• Ransomware
• Social engineering

Traditional training often doesn’t prepare employees to avoid and address these threats. Online-only or strictly compliance-focused training lacks real-world applicability.

On the other hand, in-person-only training isn’t scalable. And it doesn’t provide continuous learning to keep people up to date with the ever-changing cyberthreat landscape.

Blended learning is your best bet for cybersecurity training for several reasons, including the following.

Flexibility

Self-paced, online modules are a great way to deliver theoretical knowledge (e.g., identifying phishing attacks). Online platforms offer flexible, engaging, and interactive training.

They also ensure quality, timely training for all. Individuals with busy schedules or those working remotely can access training when it suits them. And your whole team gets equal access to quality training.

Personalized Learning

Blended learning platforms can adapt to individual learners’ needs, ensuring the right people get the right training. They allow you to provide additional resources or exercises based on the learner’s role or performance.

For instance, you might target leadership roles with modules about risk management and compliance. Meanwhile, you’d include training on network security and identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in network devices in a learning path for a network engineer.

Practical Experience

Live sessions in cybersecurity training give learners hands-on experience with practical skills. This experience gives the training context and relevance.

For instance, say your team has completed an online course about detecting phishing emails. You can follow up with a live simulation where employees must identify and respond to a phishing attack in real time.

Practicing in a safe environment will show learners how the skills impact their work. It also helps them develop the “muscle memory” to respond quickly and effectively to actual threats.

Continuous Learning

You can easily update blended learning platforms with new content. You’ll be able to keep learners informed about the latest cybersecurity trends and best practices.

Implementing Digital Training Modules For Cybersecurity

Digital training modules are a flexible and efficient way to deliver cybersecurity education. Here are some best practices for implementing them.

1. Align Training With Organizational Needs

Identify specific cybersecurity risks and tailor your training to them. Include training modules that cater to the specific needs and responsibilities of different roles within your organization. Also, ensure training aligns with industry regulations and standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).

2. Find The Right Platform For Effective Delivery And Management

Use cybersecurity training software to host your training content and keep learners on track.

An online learning platform puts all your training management in one central location, ensuring training is delivered consistently across the organization.

Robust platform features allow you to assign modules, track employee progress, analyze training effectiveness, and update content quickly and easily.

3. Make The Content Engaging And Interactive

Employees are more likely to complete training and retain what they learn when it keeps them engaged. Look for ways to make the training interesting. For instance:

• Incorporate elements of gamification
• Use realistic scenarios and simulations
• Add multiple-choice quizzes or interactive assessments

We’ll look at these tactics more in-depth below.

4. Keep Modules Short And Sweet With Microlearning

Break training down into short, digestible modules that can be completed quickly. Brief, focused lessons make it easier to learn and retain ideas. They’re also more convenient. Employees can fit them in throughout their day as needed.

Ready-made cybersecurity essentials courses are a good foundation for your training strategy. Many LMS platforms will also let you develop custom courses as needed.

5. Support Continuous Learning And Updates

Keep training content up to date with the latest cybersecurity threats, best practices, and technologies.

Gather feedback from employees to identify areas for improvement and ensure the training is relevant and effective.

Integrating Live Crisis Simulations

Crisis simulations ensure the theories and skills from online learning turn into on-the-job application. Real-world simulations test not only individual knowledge but also how teams respond collectively to cybersecurity incidents.

Live simulations (whether in-person or virtual) allow for immediate feedback from cybersecurity experts. They also benefit your organization by encouraging teamwork and collaboration in responding to threats.

Here are some best practices for integrating these simulations into your organization.

1. Set Clear Objectives

All organizations need to be up to date on compliance issues. But each has its own needs when it comes to company strengths and the kinds of cybersecurity threats it faces.

Be clear on what you’re trying to achieve with an exercise. For instance, are you testing incident response procedures? Identifying gaps in preparedness? Evaluating team coordination?

Also, define the types of cyberthreats your team needs to be prepared for (e.g., data breaches, phishing scams, etc.).

2. Use Realistic Scenarios

Develop scenarios based on actual cybersecurity incidents or threats to make the simulation as realistic as possible. This will ensure that employees are prepared for the types of crises they may encounter.

For example:

• A ransomware attack simulation where employees must work together to isolate infected systems and communicate with IT.
• A phishing simulation in which employees must identify malicious emails and follow the correct reporting procedures.

Include a mix of simple and complex scenarios to test the team’s ability to respond to a variety of threats.

3. Debrief And Evaluate

Conduct a detailed debriefing after the simulation. Identify areas for improvement and lessons learned.

Then, use that information to develop actionable recommendations for enhancing your organization’s cybersecurity preparedness.

Creating A Continuous Learning Environment

Cybersecurity education isn’t a one-time event. It should be an ongoing effort and evolve with the threats and trends employees face. Blended learning can help you establish an ongoing cybersecurity education program.

Implement regular online updates through asynchronous courses to keep employees informed of new threats. And make sure they participate in periodic in-person refreshers or simulations to help maintain vigilance.

Once you’ve got the training in place, keep it up to date by regularly measuring its effectiveness. Use assessments and feedback loops from both online modules and in-person simulations to measure learning outcomes. Look for any gaps in knowledge or performance to identify areas for improvement.

Engaging Employees In Cybersecurity Training

Even the most polished courses are only effective if learners participate fully in the training. Get employees engaged by helping them see the value of the training and making it a compelling, interactive experience.

First, build a culture of cybersecurity. Discuss the importance of keeping your systems, data, and customer information safe. Get employees committed to helping by discussing their role in protecting your company.

Next, build up the training, advertising it in advance with messaging that supports the sense of ownership you’ve built into the culture. Set the tone by sending out custom training announcement emails to encourage participation and excitement around the program.

Finally, make the training engaging to maintain learner interest and ensure completion. Here are some strategies to enhance employee engagement:

• Make it relevant. Connect cybersecurity concepts to employees’ everyday lives. For instance, talk about the risks of sharing personal information online or the potential consequences of a data breach. Share real-world examples of cybersecurity incidents to illustrate the importance of the training.
• Employ gamification. Incorporate game-like elements such as points, badges, and leaderboards to make training more fun and engaging. Organize in-person cybersecurity challenges to encourage friendly competition and learning.
• Make it social. Asynchronous training doesn’t have to happen in a vacuum. Encourage employees to collaborate with their peers and share their knowledge. Create online forums or communities where employees can discuss cybersecurity topics and ask questions.
• Recognize and reward participation. Offer incentives for employees who complete training modules or demonstrate exceptional cybersecurity knowledge. These can be small things like certificates of achievement, gift cards, or personalized mugs or T-shirts. They can also be event-related, like a team lunch or outing once everyone’s gone through the training.
• Make sure leaders walk the talk. Get senior leadership to support cybersecurity training and set a positive example. Make sure managers discuss the importance with their teams. Have executives go through the training as well, and have them talk about their experience in all-hands meetings.

Blended Learning Is Your Key To Cybersecurity Training Success

Your organization’s security is only as strong as your employees’ understanding of and commitment to cybersecurity. And that means training.

Blended learning—combining the best aspects of traditional classroom instruction with the flexibility and accessibility of online learning—is the best approach. It gives learners the knowledge and the experience to identify, prevent, and address the latest threats.

Ultimately, preparing your organization to handle cybersecurity will help you protect your valuable assets, maintain customer trust, and ensure the long-term viability of your business.