Cyber security awareness is a term that you hear more and more often. Not only in the workplace, but also in the news. Information security is a hot theme and is currently one of the most important challenges for companies and governments. Making yourself, but also your colleagues and therefore the entire organization, resilient is becoming increasingly important. In this blog, you'll read why it's so important and we'll give you our best tips and tricks later in part 2 of this series.

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What is Cyber Security Awareness?

Cyber security awareness is freely translated as cyber security awareness. It is a term for the extent to which people are aware of the dangers in the field of cyber and information security. It's about people's knowledge, attitude and behavior. Both in the workplace and in their daily lives. A legitimate question, for example, is: are your employees aware of digital dangers? And are they able to recognize cybersecurity incidents?

Cyber security awareness: why is it important?

Partly due to the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the number of cybersecurity incidents has increased substantially. Since an attack starts in humans in more than 80% of cases, it is important to make humans the strongest link. Cyber and information security may be very technical, but in the end, most processes remain human work. As an organization, you are simply dependent on the behavior of your employees. Someone who is not aware of the possible dangers is more likely to click on a suspicious link (phishing), unsuspectingly transfers a sum of money to a cybercriminal who pretends to be his or her CEO (whaling) or does not realize that an uninvited guest is walking through the office (social engineering).

Too little is being done to make critical target groups (such as youth) more cyber resilient. according RTL News 20% of young people between the ages of 15 and 25 become victims of online threats, fraud or sexting. This group spends much of their time online. That is why they also get involved more easily in incidents or they take on the role of an attacker themselves. It is relatively easy for young people to earn large amounts of money in the event of a successful cyber attack. This reduces a first step towards regular crime.

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Victims of cybercrime

‍Unconscious and incompetent is a dangerous combination. Cybercriminals know this and, just like in the animal kingdom, always go for the easiest prey. Indeed, victims of cybercrime are not aware of any danger, let alone defend themselves against it. An extremely vulnerable combination. Utilities, (local) governments, healthcare institutions, universities and colleges, among others, are often victims of cybercrime. In many cases, the basic level of information security of these organizations is still too low, with all the (financial) consequences that entail.

Cyber security awareness: The biggest pitfall

The biggest mistake that is made in cyber security awareness is to pay attention to it once. A one-off course or e-learning doesn't work at all, and that's certainly the case with cyber security. Acquiring knowledge is only one part of what you want to achieve, namely behavioral change. And behavioral change simply takes time. That is why we advocate a continuous process in which repetition plays a major role.

What is the best way to train your colleagues?

Our advice is to train the various target groups through an ongoing cyber security awareness program. As a result, you will be working on the subject of information security for a longer period of time. As a result:

• It's easier to learn about the various cyber security topics;
• Train yourself and your colleagues to continuously recognize digital dangers;
• And learn to recognize digital dangers and to work with your digital fingerprint with an alert mindset.

This gives the greatest chance of becoming “unconsciously competent”. It is simply the best way to resist cybercriminals.

Viewing tip: In the Navaio webinar Security Awareness: the focus point for 2022 gives our Security Awareness specialist Jorrit de Ruiter are most important Cyber Security Awareness tips.