The Importance of Security Awareness Training

The challenge of maintaining your dealership’s cybersecurity extends beyond the technical realm to include a critical layer of personal responsibility. One of the top hazards that dealerships around the nation confront are people and their activities, yet few dealers have a well-developed program to manage this human risk. You might be surprised to learn that 85% of data breaches are caused by the “human element”. So, what can dealers do to help minimize risk?

Have no fear, Security Awareness Training is here! Through the implementation of a comprehensive Security Awareness Training Program, dealers can identify the biggest human risks to their dealership as well as the key behaviors that can be enabled and altered throughout the dealership to manage those hazardous online attacks.

Security Awareness Training (SAT) drastically improves employee awareness of threats and their ability to identify when hackers are trying to trick them. After all, 1 in 4 employees acknowledge falling for a phishing email while at work. Once they become aware and trained that hackers are out there trying to fool them, dealer personnel can spot these scam emails and take necessary action by deleting the email or not clicking a link.

The fundamental components of a strong Security Awareness Training Program, which are sure to position your dealership for success when it comes to cyberattacks, are outlined below.

Baseline Testing
The percentage of your users that are vulnerable to phishing can first be determined by testing your personnel.

Education
All employees should be required to complete in-depth training that includes interactive modules, videos, games, posters and newsletters.

ROI Reporting
See the results from employees that have completed training through enterprise-strength reporting, including stats and graphs for training and phishing. Leaders can evaluate these findings and take the necessary action with employees who do not pass.

Simulated Phishing Attacks
Use completely automated simulated phishing attempts to test the education that has been provided. This will help your employees be more aware of what a cyberattack can look like.

Any cybersecurity strategy adopted by a dealership must consider its weakest point: its employees. If the necessary education is provided and mandated — and leadership makes sure that employees take it seriously — employees can be ready to respond to attacks. Security Awareness Training not only gives dealerships peace of mind that their employees understand what needs to be done to lessen ransomware, phishing and social engineering, it also ensures that the dealership is compliant with the new FTC Safeguards Guidelines. If your dealership is looking for help with adopting a successful Security Awareness Training program, click the link here to see what we can do for you.