Security awareness training is an essential component of employee onboarding for any company handling sensitive data. The growing adoption of remote/hybrid work combined with an increase in cyber attacks means companies need to be more vigilant about cybersecurity than ever before. The vast majority of breaches happen in part due to human error, and security awareness training is proven to reduce the likelihood of a breach by up to 80%! Social engineering attacks and other security threats are dependent on a lack of education. Ensuring your employees have the knowledge to prevent security incidents before they happen is paramount to protecting your customers and brand reputation.

There are hundreds of security awareness training programs on the market today, but not all trainings are created equal. When looking for a security awareness program, it’s important to choose one that aligns with your company's needs. Both the content and platforms for your training solutions are important to creating a strong culture of security at your organization. Here are 5 of the most important factors to evaluate when choosing a security awareness training program in 2022. 

1. If the Training has Quality, Relevant Content

When evaluating security awareness providers, make sure to choose one that has content for the way work is actually done in 2022. Many companies are embracing remote/hybrid approaches where critical functions are carried out via cloud-based SaaS tools instead of on-premise hardware. We’ve written a ton about how embracing SaaS apps and remote workers introduces new information security risks to organizations, and your training should be updated for modern workflows.

These new workflows require an emphasis on software. For example, writing down passwords on a piece of paper is no longer as big of a security risk as it once was, but failure to implement multi-factor authentication on company accounts is a major liability. Your platform should include security awareness topics for 2022 such as securing personal devices used for work, considerations for public wifi, and how to identify phishing attacks outside of business email. It should also include content about different types of compliance such as general data protection regulation (GDPR), SOC 2, PCI, and more. You can check out Haekka's comprehensive training catalog here.

2. The Format the Content is Delivered in

The days of companies handing out binders full of security tips are behind us, but most security awareness training still uses outdated formats for delivering content. Research shows that byte-size content and micro-training are the most effective ways to learn new information. Short-form content is easier to digest and leads to fewer employees checking out during training. 

Your security awareness training program should be delivered in easily digestible pieces that don’t require users to memorize a wall of text. Frequent quizzes (known as engagements in Haekka) are a proven way to increase retention rates and make it easier for people to internalize information quickly. Haekka’s security awareness training is delivered in 12 small lessons with quizzes to ensure employees actually understand the content they view. 

3. Whether the Platform Automates Training Processes

One reason why training is so burdensome for companies is the amount of time wasted carrying out repetitive administrative functions. Any security awareness training platform you choose should automate basic processes that shouldn’t require manual effort. For example, your platform should automatically assign training to new employees when they join the company and should have the ability to segment training by role/needs. Haekka does this by allowing admins to automatically assign training to individual Slack users, to specific channels, or to an entire workspace. Our premium plans also support several HRIS integrations.

Other aspects of the training process such as tracking completion rates and reminding employees about overdue lessons should also be automated. One particularly important task that your platform should handle for you is generating and collecting evidence for auditors. Evidence of training is a core part of compliance in 2022, and there is no reason for your administrators to have to manually put together proof of training during an audit.

4. If the Training Resembles Real Work

The vast majority of training content and platforms look nothing like what an employee would see on a day-to-day basis. Logging into some external LMS, clicking through hundreds of boring slides, and taking a long quiz at the end is nothing like real work. People learn best in familiar environments, and most training platforms are anything but familiar.

Haekka resembles real work since employees can train completely within Slack, an app they use every day. Using Haekka feels like having a conversation in Slack and doesn’t disrupt workflows. Having your training platform resemble typical workflows keeps people engaged and improves productivity. Many other training platforms also ship with integrations for common work tools, so make sure to choose one with integrations that align with your company's tech stack!

5. If the Training Provider Offers Flexible Pricing

Even if it’s not always said out loud, security awareness training costs are a major point of concern for companies when deciding which information security training to buy, particularly for startups on a limited budget. That’s why we’ve made our security awareness training modules COMPLETELY FREE! We want the world to be a safer place, and security awareness training is proven to be the most effective way for companies to improve their cybersecurity. The launch of Haekka Unlimited allows anyone at any firm to enroll their entire company in our security awareness training for free. There is no limit on the number of seats, no credit card required, and no commitment!

If you want more than our security awareness training you can upgrade to a paid plan with access to all of Haekka’s premium features. Those features include a robust training catalog with first and third-party content, the ability to customize training, HRIS integrations, and much more!

When growing a business every dollar counts. If you’re looking for check-the-box security awareness training, why not use Haekka for completely free? None of our competitors will train and certify your entire team without charging a penny. Most organizations choose to lock knowledge behind a paywall, but we believe the world is a better place when all employees are given the resources needed to protect confidential information.

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Training should be a point of strength, not a burden

Choosing security awareness training for your company can be challenging. We’ve given 5 things to consider when picking a program/platform, but the most important factor is how well a particular training (and training provider) works with your organization’s needs. What works best for one company may not work well for a different firm.

We built Haekka to make security and compliance as easy as possible for modern companies.   If you want to test out Haekka completely free of charge, schedule a demo with one of our founders today! If you need any advice about cyber security, compliance, or working remotely feel free to contact us and our team will be happy to serve as a resource.