4 Big Benefits of Security & Compliance Awareness Training

---

See How Security and Compliance Training Wins the Day

---

Security and compliance awareness training may not be exciting, but the benefits of training are very exciting. Companies that engage in regular security and compliance awareness training programs gain many advantages that help them avoid cyberattacks and prevent cybersecurity incidents as well as reducing the chance of an expensive compliance error. Take a look at these four big benefits of training to learn more about all of the ways that businesses can profit from even a modest investment in security and compliance awareness training.  

---

---

4 Benefits of Training That Every Business Can Enjoy 

---

Establishing and conducting a training program may require a small initial outlay of cash, but the major security benefits an organization can receive from it are priceless. 

---

1. Better Phishing Resistance 

---

Security awareness training improves phishing awareness by an estimated 40%. While training may sound nebulous or frivolous, it’s not. Instead, the benefits of security and compliance awareness training have been scientifically proven. Researchers in a U.K. study discovered that the improvement in employee behavior that companies see when they engage in security awareness training is stark, especially when it comes to phishing.   

• At the beginning of the study, as many as 40% to 60% of the employees surveyed were likely to open malicious links or attachments.   
• After about six months of security awareness training, the percentage of employees who took the bait dropped to 20% to 25%.   
• When the employees completed three to six months more of security awareness training, only 10% to 18% of them fell for the phishing messages.     

Better resistance against phishing translates into savings now and down the road. The cost of phishing attacks has almost quadrupled over the past six years, with large US companies losing an average of $14.8 million annually (or $1,500 per employee) to phishing. That cost will keep rising. Security awareness training reduces the cost of phishing by more than 50%. 

---

---

2. Reduced Overall Security Costs 

---

Security awareness training is a big cost saver. By training employees to be more aware of security behaviors and security red flags, companies don’t just save money on compliance or cyberattack costs. They also save money in the IT department too.  

• A corporate data security training program saves businesses an average of $2.54 million per year.    
• Companies that engage in regular security awareness training have 70% fewer security incidents.   
• Overall security-related risks are reduced by 70% when businesses invest in cybersecurity awareness training. 

IT Security Costs Before & After Training 

	Before training 50 – 999 employees	Before training 1000+ employees	After training 50 – 999 employees	After training 1000+ employees
Annual IT payroll hours spent disinfecting workstations, networks	760.0	137.3	565.5	120.5
Annual misc. incident remediation cost per email user	$29.23	$5.28	$21.75	$4.63
Annual IT security costs per email user	$7.51	$28.11	$0.75	$2.81
Cost of employee time spent in SAT			$21.11	$27.83
Estimated annual costs per email user (including IT payroll costs)	$249.39	$455.41	$24.94	$45.54

Source: Osterman Research, The ROI of Security Awareness Training 

---

---

3. Better Compliance  

---

Security failures don’t just end in cyberattacks. They can also end in expensive compliance failures. About 61% of organizations have had employees cause a compliance-related security failure. In many respects, security goes hand in hand with regulatory compliance. If an organization is experiencing security issues, chances are it is also experiencing compliance issues. Those issues can also complicate incident response and recovery, especially financially.  The effects of a data breach or other security event that impacts compliance with data privacy or data handling rules can bring numerous ripples that impact organizations long after the event is over, creating challenges for months or years to come – and compliance woes can be the push that causes an organization’s destruction. 

Or more broadly: 

• The average cost of a violation for organizations experiencing non-compliance problems is $9.4 million. 
• The average cost of compliance for an organization, including safeguards like employee security awareness training, is $3.5 million — about one-third of the penalty for non-compliance. 
• Organizations lose an average of $4 million in revenue due to a single non-compliance event.  

Organizations in many industries or geographic locations are required to comply with data privacy statutes that require certain protections for the handling and storage of personal, financial or health-related data — and the penalties for non-compliance can be steep.  

• For a HIPAA violation, a company could be looking at penalties ranging from $100 to $50,000 per violation (or per record).  
• A GDPR penalty could set a company back up to 4% of its annual global revenue or 20 million euros ($22.8 million).  
• A company in breach of PIPEDA requirements can be fined up to $100,000 for each violation. 

---

---

4. A Strong Security Culture 

---

An estimated 93% of employees said that well-planned employee training programs positively affect their level of engagement in security practices and procedures – and engaged employees are employees that prevent security disasters. Worryingly, 45% of respondents in a HIPAA Journal survey said that they don’t need to worry about cybersecurity safeguards because they don’t work in the IT department. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. When employees gain security savvy, they realize that maintaining security to fight back against cybercrime is everyone’s job.   

The benefits of a strong security culture as outlined by the UK Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure include:  

• A workforce that is more likely to be engaged with, and take responsibility for, security issues  
• Increased compliance with protective security measures  
• Reduced risk of insider incidents  
• Awareness of the most relevant security threats  
• Employees are more likely to think and act in a security-conscious manner 

---

---

The Bottom Line: Training is an Excellent Investment 

---

Security awareness training is a powerhouse security investment that offers an excellent ROI. Small and Midsize Businesses (SMBs) realize an excellent ROI of 69% on an investment in training. Even bigger organizations see even bigger benefits. Larger organizations can realize an eye-popping 562% ROI from a successful security and compliance awareness training program.  Compare that to the fact that SMBs spend an average of $955,429 to restore normal business in the wake of a cyberattack, and penalties for compliance failures can easily run into the millions.

BullPhish ID is the Training Solution That’s Perfect for Every Business 

More than 60% of companies do not do enough security awareness training to enjoy any of the benefits it provides. Don’t make that mistake. Security awareness training is a low-cost, highly effective cure for employee cybersecurity woes. BullPhish ID makes security awareness training a snap for training administrators and employees.  

With BullPhish ID you: 

• Get at least four new training videos and fresh phishing kits added every month to keep training current. 
• Simplify compliance training with video lessons that make complex requirements easy to understand.  
• Train your way and on your schedule with plug-and-play phishing simulation kits or customizable content that can be tailored to fit your industry’s unique threats.  
• Offer training in eight languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish (Iberian/European) and Spanish (Latin).  
• Leverage in-lesson quizzes and simple, easy-to-read reports to see the value of training and know who needs additional support.   
• Simplify the training process and make it convenient for every employee with a personalized user portal.   
• Automatically generate and send reports to stakeholders.  

Want to learn more about security awareness training and how BullPhish ID can help secure your company and save you money? Explore the benefits of training with BullPhish ID today.  

Or, book a demo and see BullPhish ID in action! 

---

---