As a new study by Lucy Security shows, cybersecurity awareness increases IT security. 96 percent of companies agree that cybersecurity awareness contributes to a higher level of security. All respondents also agree that awareness measures have a positive influence on a company's error culture.
The benefits of cybersecurity awareness, especially phishing simulations, are currently being widely discussed. Nowadays companies not only invest in IT security solutions, but also in the training of their employees so that they behave in a more security-conscious manner. 96 percent of companies already conduct security awareness training. This is the result of the study "Cybersecurity Awareness Study 2020" by the Swiss company Lucy Security AG, which was carried out in July 2020 among qualified, international security experts. Security Awarenes includes various training measures to sensitize employees of a company to topics related to IT security. The aim is to minimize the dangers to IT security caused by employees.
Companies do not exhaust the potential of their employees
81 percent of the companies surveyed carry out phishing simulations. It is noteworthy, however, that only around half of the companies already include their employees in their security measures: Only 51 percent of the companies have a phishing alarm button in use. 49 percent do not use this function and thus do not exhaust the potential of their staff, the "human firewall" is not activated. "The lack of use of a phishing incident button wastes a lot of protection potential and user motivation," said Palo Stacho, co-founder and Head of Operations at Lucy Security, commenting on the results of the survey.
Cybersecurity awareness has increased in 92 percent of companies in recent months. 96 percent also agree that cybersecurity awareness led to a higher level of security in their company. 98 percent are also convinced that security awareness measures make attacks by cyber criminals more difficult.
Phishing simulations strengthen trust in superiors
The measures also strengthen trust in the management. Just under 89 percent of those surveyed fully, mostly or somewhat agree that trust in management is not called into question by phishing campaigns. 73 percent also confirm that the security awareness measures do not trigger any fears among employees. On the contrary: 95 percent of those surveyed state that the phishing simulations have a positive effect on the working atmosphere. 100 percent also claim that the measures have a positive influence on their company's error culture.
Cybersecurity awareness makes companies safer
92 percent of those surveyed do not believe that the same level of IT security can be maintained in the company if existing funds and resources are invested exclusively in technical security measures such as firewalls and virus scanners. "At Lucy Security, we have found in internal analyzes that correctly implemented awareness programs make a company up to ten times more secure," says Palo Stacho. “However, cybersecurity awareness not only has a positive influence on the number of security incidents and the training of employees. The training courses and the increased attention to IT security also improves the corporate culture. "
About the Study
The worldwide online study "Benefits and Challenges of Cybersecurity Awareness 2020" was carried out between June 2020 and July 25, 16 among almost 2020 qualified security specialists. More than eight percent of those questioned answered the extensive questionnaire. The proportion of study recipients from the DACH region was 900 percent. During the same period, the survey was also publicly available and advertised on LinkedIn. Around twelve percent of all responses could be collected through this channel. Of those surveyed, 32 percent said they were a security awareness specialist.
Go to the study at LucySecurity.com
About Lucy Security Lucy was founded in 2015 and has transformed the experience of its founders in the field of ethical hacking into comprehensive training software that enables a 360 ° view of the IT security weaknesses of an organization. To date, more than 11 million users have been trained in 10.000 installations worldwide. Lucy continues to receive numerous industry awards, including the 2020 ISPG Award for Best Cybersecurity Education and Training and the 2020 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards for Best Anti-Phishing and Security Education Platform. The company is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with a US office in Austin, TX. More information is available at www.lucysecurity.com.