- Kaspersky recently assessed 3 907 employees to gauge their cybersecurity awareness.
- The results were not great, with only 11 percent displaying the required awareness.
- It, therefore, highlights the importance of cybersecurity training for all organisations.
Cybersecurity was thrust front and centre for many, if not all organisations, during the pandemic as employees working remotely posed a threat from a data access perspective. With hybrid work here to stay, employees still present a risk, which is why more organisations need to seriously consider cybersecurity training.
This is according to Kaspersky, which recently assessed 3 907 employees in order to gauge their cybersecurity awareness. As you may have guessed, given the rise in data breaches and hacks in recent years, the results did not make for comforting reading.
To that end, using its Gamified Assessment Tool, Kaspersky found that only 11 percent of employees showcased the required level of awareness, which has seen the company highlight the importance of cybersecurity training.
Unpacking how the Assessment Tool works, Kasperky notes that during the game, employees receive points on the decisions they make while facing commonly encountered situations occurring while working remotely, travelling, and working in the office.
They are asked to assess whether their actions carry cybersecurity risks, and how confident they are in their assumptions.
“One in ten (11 percent) of test participants were awarded a Certificate of Excellence, meaning they gave correct responses, scored over 90 percent of possible points,” highlights Kaspersky in a press release sent to Hypertext.
It is also important to note that the aforementioned 3 907 employees were assessed over a long period of time, namely January 2021 to September 2022, illustrating that despite more rhetoric around cybersecurity awareness being shared both inside and outside of organisations alike, many employees still lack the necessary training.
“Most users – 61 percent – achieved an ‘average’ result ranging from 82 percent to 90 percent points, while 28 percent could not prove sufficient knowledge of cybersecurity knowledge, scoring less than 75 percent,” it adds.
Looking further into the Assessment Tool, it covers six security domains – passwords and accounts, email, web browsing, social networks and messenger, PC security and mobile devices.
According to Kaspersky, the web browsing topic appeared to be the most difficult for users as just 24 percent defined their actions correctly. Scenarios tied to mobile devices were least complex, however, as 43 percent of employees made no mistakes in identifying cyber risks in these scenarios.
With cybersecurity showing no signs of slowing down, training will play a key role in assisting to limit any breaches or hacks down the line.
