Businesses look to their managed service providers to protect them from cyber threats such as phishing, and while many are able to deliver advanced spam filters and web filters, MSPs should also provide another layer of protection: one that addresses the human element of these attacks.
Phishing attacks target employees, and while it is important to implement technical measures to block those messages, it is not possible to prevent every phishing message from reaching inboxes. Given the volume of phishing messages now being sent, and the constantly changing tactics, techniques, and procedures of cyber threat actors, it is inevitable that some messages will land in inboxes. The bottom line is employees need to be trained how to recognize phishing attempts – they are the last line of defense.
One of the greatest benefits to come from security awareness training is getting employees to stop and think, and not blindly believe that every email or SMS message is genuine because it appears to be from an official source and provides a reasonable reason for taking a certain action. Training employees to be curious and to question is a vital part of developing a security culture.
Data from customers of TitanHQ who have started using the SafeTitan security awareness training and phishing simulation platform show clear benefits of the training. Over time, susceptibility to phishing attempts reduces as evidenced by the number of individuals who fall for simulated phishing emails. This has also been confirmed by MSPs that have started providing security awareness training and phishing simulations to their clients.
It is important, however, for MSPs to carefully consider the training platform they use. Providing training is one thing. Getting end users to engage with it and take it seriously is another. The training content needs to be informative, but it must also be enjoyable. Gamification is a key element to keep users engaged and quizzes are great for confirming the lessons have been understood. The training content also needs to be delivered in easily assimilated chunks. Training modules of no more than 10 minutes are best, as this is ideal for ensuring maximum knowledge retention and fitting the training into workflows.
Phishing simulations are an important part of the training process, not just for identifying individuals who require further training, but also for identifying the specific types of phishing emails that are working and are fooling employees. Training can then be tailored to address those security gaps. Phishing simulations need to be realistic, and since these emails will be sent over a long period of time, there needs to be considerable variation. Many different templates are needed to test different phishing tactics and the training platform needs to have constantly updated phishing templates, as real-world attacks are rapidly evolving too.
Phishing simulation failures need to trigger on-the-spot training. The training needs to be automated, so it will be delivered instantly when it is likely to have the most effect. The platform should also notify end users when they successfully reported a simulated phishing email or correctly identified a phishing attempt, to encourage them and praise them for being attentive.
Ultimately, security awareness training is vital for all businesses and a critical component of any cybersecurity strategy. MSPs that can offer this service to their customers can gain a significant competitive advantage, help their customers better defend against attacks, reduce the support time by preventing successful attacks, and ultimately save their clients money. However, there are important features of training products that MSPs need to look out for.
They need a solution that has the maximum impact for the minimum effort, as MSPs have a great deal of work to perform for many customers. The solution must be able to be used efficiently and allow much of the setup and training to be automated, and for reports to be automated and scheduled to send to clients to show them how effective the training is.
TitanHQ has developed the SafeTitan platform to meet the needs of MSPs, with recent updates making it even easier for MSPs to provide this service. These include direct injection of emails to inboxes to make sure they are not filtered out by email security solutions, easy segmentation of customers into groups to allow bulk configuration and changes to campaigns, and – as is the case with all TitanHQ solutions – making sure there is an excellent user experience, which means easy administration and low maintenance.
Security awareness training is a big opportunity for MSPs and can greatly improve the security posture of their clients. Talk to TitanHQ today about getting started and to find out how easy it is to add this important layer of protection to your service stack.