Cybersecurity 101 Training: How to build employee habits that prevent cyberattacks

Since the pandemic began, cyber attacks have been on the rise as hackers have exploited vulnerabilities in employees’ work from home practices. Rather than attacking large organizations or governments, which tend to have large security teams and protective software, hackers have shifted their tactics to exploit susceptibilities in employees’ privacy and security practices.¹

Part of the reason for increased cyber attacks is employee negligence. Employee inattentiveness has become a more significant problem since the pandemic began, with more than half of attacks on organizations in 2021 being a direct result of employee negligence.² 

Address Cybersecurity On Day 1

The onboarding process is a pivotal time to set expectations and create a robust cybersecurity foundation. It also provides opportunities to strengthen an employee’s sense of belonging, which greatly reduces the likelihood of lackadaisical behavior.

Prepare against negligence with knowledge-building

There is much at stake when it comes to properly training employees: on average, attacks caused by employee or contractor negligence cost companies $484,931.² While there are effective ways to change behavior once an employee has finished onboarding and joined the company (more on that here), the focus of this article is on the importance of creating resilience from the start. 

Research findings suggest that the most effective solution to prevent cyber attacks is to create a holistic training program that builds employees’ knowledge base about common hacking methods.³ Onboarding provides ample opportunities to improve awareness of cyber risks given every new employee must complete the same training protocols. 

Form habits from the beginning

Another challenge that arises when assigning cybersecurity training to employees who are already onboarded is that it competes with their existing habits and work obligations.⁴ Similarly, asking them to complete it after work hours may leave some staff unable to attend, or invite inattentiveness.⁵

according to one corporate training professional, fewer than 20% of employees change their habits upon coaching.⁶ 

Behavioral science can tackle employee cybersecurity habits and reflexes, and you can find more on it here. A focus on training at the very beginning of someone’s tenure at a company avoids many of these pitfalls.

Promote belonging to increase security initiative

A key tenet of being able to protect information and act upon best cybersecurity practices is the level to which an employee feels engaged with the organization. Research suggests that committed employees make choices that benefit the organization and go beyond the minimum cybersecurity recommendations because they want to positively affect organizational outcomes.⁷ Onboarding is a key moment to enhance commitment.⁸

When a company fosters engagement during onboarding by treating new employees as partners in an organization and boosting their confidence, they experience more assimilation and less stress, both key factors when thinking about cyber risk.⁸ More broadly, those who successfully assimilate experience greater job satisfaction, higher rates of retention, and increased productivity. Conversely, those who were not onboarded well had higher turnover rates, decreased customer satisfaction, and reduced productivity.