Every organization dedicated to protecting itself invests significantly in security awareness training because human error remains a leading cause of data breaches worldwide.

Cybersecurity threats are evolving every second, and yet the most advanced endpoint security and threat intelligence platforms can’t prevent employees from accidentally opening the door to attackers seeking to cause irreparable harm to a business.

In 2024, engineering firm Arup lost $25 million due to a deepfake scam after an employee on its finance team was tricked during a video conference call. The employee thought they were communicating with the chief financial officer and other team members. However, in reality, it was an attacker using artificial intelligence (AI)-generated representations of those colleagues who successfully had the employee authorize a series of transactions to transfer funds from Arup’s account.

Effective security awareness training could’ve made all the difference, preventing the organization from losing $25 million.

Incidents like this, albeit perhaps with more minor losses, are far more common than people realize. In fact, 92% of companies have experienced financial loss due to a deepfake.

Security awareness training aims to get in front of attacks by preparing employees for what to expect from various threat vectors — and how to respond.

Security Awareness Training: Definition & Meaning

Security awareness training is a program-based process for educating employees and other stakeholders about cybersecurity risks and best practices. It aims to change behavior and create a ‘human firewall’ that recognizes and responds to potential threats.

‍Training for security awareness goes beyond lectures and presentations, though. Security awareness training involves interactive modules, simulated phishing attacks, and ongoing reinforcement to ensure that employees understand and, more importantly, retain the information.

Here are the areas typically included in security awareness training:

• Phishing & Social Engineering: Recognizing and avoiding phishing emails, phone scams, ‘smishing’ text messages, ‘quishing’ QR codes, and other social engineering tactics.
• Generative AI-Powered Deepfakes: Identify deepfakes replicating executives and colleagues through video, voice, or text communication.
• Password Security: Creating strong, unique passwords and using password managers.
• Malware Awareness: Understanding viruses, ransomware, and other types of malware designed to infect devices and steal company and customer data.
• Data Security & Privacy: Protecting sensitive data, complying with relevant regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA), and understanding data handling best practices.
• Physical Security: Securing devices, recognizing tailgating in person, and reporting lost or stolen equipment.
• Safe Internet Usage: Avoiding risky websites, using secure WiFi networks, and understanding the dangers of public networks.
• Mobile Device Security: Protecting smartphones and tablets from threats.
• Incident Reporting: Knowing how to report suspicious activity promptly and effectively.

Overall, security awareness training aims to empower employees to be the first line of defense against cyberattacks to reduce an organization’s risk.

The Importance of Security Awareness Training: 5 Benefits

In today’s threat landscape, security awareness training isn’t optional — it’s essential. Cyberattacks continue to improve their sophistication, particularly with generative AI and deepfakes.

Advanced technologies allow hackers to create incredibly convincing phishing emails, voice impersonations, and even fake videos. As a result, it’s harder than ever for employees to detect malicious activity. Legacy solutions for security awareness training, often consisting of yearly, one-size-fits-all content, aren’t anywhere close to effective.

Considering launching or overhauling your security awareness training program? Take a look at the key benefits.

Reduces human error

Most data breaches are caused by human error, such as clicking on a malicious link or falling for a phishing scam. Effective security awareness training directly addresses this vulnerability.

Protects against sophisticated attacks

Training for security awareness helps employees recognize increasingly sophisticated phishing attempts, including those leveraging AI-generated content.

Meets compliance requirements

Several regulations — such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS — mandate security awareness training for employees.

Reduces financial losses

Data breaches are devastating to an organization. Alongside reputational damage and loss of business, a successful cyberattack could lead to stolen funds, costly legal fees, and potential fines. Training helps prevent these losses by preventing successful cyberattacks.

Builds a security-conscious culture

Regular training fosters a culture where security is everyone’s responsibility, not solely the IT department’s.

What a Modern Approach to Security Awareness Training Looks Like

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all, annual security training. A modern approach to security awareness training leverages technology and data to create a dynamic, engaging, and practical learning experience for all employees.

Personalized training paths

Recognizing that employees have different roles, risk levels, and learning styles, a modern approach ensures that each individual receives the most relevant and impactful content to maximize knowledge retention and behavior change.

A finance employee, for instance, might receive more in-depth training on preventing wire transfer fraud, while a marketing employee might focus on social media best practices.

Generative AI-Powered Simulations

Modern security awareness training platforms utilize generative AI to create incredibly realistic and sophisticated phishing simulations, which go beyond template-based emails by crafting unique and dynamic attacks that are much harder to detect. This provides employees with real-world practice in a safe environment.

Multi-Channel Training

Legacy solutions typically limit organizations to training for a narrow set of threat vectors, and the material is often outdated — neither of which serves your organization well.

With a modern approach, you’ll tackle new and evolving threats with content from an enormous, always-updated library. But better than that, the platform at the center of it also allows you to customize content so employees receive role-based training and phishing simulations that are identical to what they can expect in the real world.

Automated reporting and compliance

Tracking employee progress? Identifying knowledge gaps? Demonstrating compliance with regulations? Security awareness training requires all of it, yet most programs struggle to do any of it because manual processes demand far too much time.

Instead, security awareness training’s reporting and compliance needs to be automated. Whether to track employee progress in real time or deliver board-ready reports to stakeholders, a modern approach means running the program efficiently, not only effectively.

Measurable results and ROI

Leadership will expect you to illustrate the impact of your organization’s security awareness training program, and with a modern approach, you can easily do so.

By tracking key metrics like phishing click rates, incident reporting, and risk scores, you’ll measure the return on investment (ROI) and make data-driven decisions to continuously improve the organization’s security posture.

6 Steps to Create a Security Awareness Training Program

Creating a security awareness training program requires a structured approach to get started. From understanding your organization’s current security posture to choosing a platform and developing a curriculum, it’s critical that you’re intentional throughout the process. It’ll set you up for a smooth launch and long-term success.

See, implementing a security awareness training program isn’t solely about purchasing a platform. It requires a strategic and well-thought-out plan. A haphazard approach, meanwhile, just leads to wasted resources and, more importantly, an organization vulnerable to attacks.

Here are the steps to create a security awareness training program.

Step 1: Assess your current security posture and training needs

Begin by identifying your organization’s specific vulnerabilities and risks. Conduct a thorough assessment of your existing security measures, past incidents, and employee knowledge gaps.

Step 2: Define clear goals and objectives

Determine what you want to achieve with your training program. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, such as reducing phishing click rates or improving incident reporting.

Step 3: Choose the right training platform (and partner)

Select a next-generation platform for security awareness training and simulations that aligns with your organization’s needs, budget, and technical capabilities.

Limitless customization, interactive scenarios, and AI-powered phishing tests with open-source intelligence (OSINT) are among the top features to look for.

Step 4: Develop a comprehensive training curriculum

Create or curate training content that covers relevant topics, addresses identified risks, and engages your employees through various formats.

Step 5: Launch and promote your training program

Communicate the importance of the training to employees and encourage participation, emphasizing that your security awareness training program is easily accessible on any device. Remember that employees spend a significant amount of time on smartphones and tablets, so it’s important to offer access to security awareness training away from a laptop.

As the program progresses, provide ongoing support so the material remains fresh and employees remain engaged.

Step 6: Monitor, measure, and iterate

Track key metrics, such as completion rates, risk scores, and phishing simulation results, and use this data to continuously improve the program and adapt to evolving threats.

Security Awareness Training Pricing: What’s the Cost?

Either you’re launching a new program or overhauling an existing one, which raises the question: What’s the cost of security awareness training? You’ll need a platform that aligns with your needs and expectations, from the capabilities to 

Security awareness training’s pricing and total cost depends on the following factors:

• Number of Users: Expect to pay per user monthly or annually. Volume discounts are often available, which help lower the cost for large enterprises or organizations growing rapidly.
• Features & Functionality: Legacy solutions may only offer pre-built modules, whereas a next-generation platform like Adaptive Security includes an enormous content library with full customization and the ability to deploy generative AI-powered phishing simulations with deepfakes using open-source intelligence.
• Vendor Package: Several vendors in security awareness training limit what organizations receive out of the box, forcing them to pay extra for enhanced, modern capabilities such as deepfake video, AI voice cloning, and board-ready reporting.

The hidden costs of security awareness training are worth consideration, too. When implementing and managing the program, internal IT staff will need to dedicate some of their time. Similarly, employees take time away from their regular tasks to complete training modules.

Well, that’s only true with legacy solutions. It’s actually very efficient to launch and operate a program with a platform purpose-built for security awareness training in today’s always-on environment. IT staff can assemble role-based training customized with company- and vendor-specific simulations in little time while employees receive engaging, impactful training they’re more likely to adhere to.

Improve Security Awareness Training with a Next-Generation Platform

Traditional, infrequent security awareness training isn’t sufficient in the face of evolving threats, especially with the rise of sophisticated AI-powered attacks. A next-generation platform offers a more effective and engaging approach.

Adaptive Security provides a continuous learning experience that adapts to individual, role-based needs and the ever-changing threat landscape.

By adopting Adaptive for next-generation security awareness training, you empower your employees to become a strong first line of defense against cyberattacks, protecting the entire organization from financial losses, reputational damage, and compliance violations difficult to recover from.

‍Ready to strengthen your organization’s security posture? Get a demo with Adaptive to see how our next-generation platform transforms security awareness training.