October is CyberSecurity Month in many countries around the world. Its success lies with each member of society, no matter one’s role. Leaders – in both politics and business – engage in nation-wide conversations about the importance of raising information security awareness. Social responsibility is key.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has issued a public statement early this Monday: “It’s important to remember that defending Canada against [cyberthreats] is a shared responsibility. [Cyberthreats] are getting more common and more widespread. Canadians are not immune to these threats, which can rob you of your money and identity and do serious harm to Canada’s infrastructure, economy and national security.”
Likewise, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also participates in the discussion by providing clear solutions to reduce the risk of cyberattacks both at work and at home. FBI News reports on this subject and emphasizes the concept of responsibility: “The FBI and our partners are working hard to stop these threats at the source, but everyone has to play a role,” says Scott Smith, Assistant Director at FBI Cyber Division.
The European Union also provides a clear platform and resources that are intended to foster debate and understanding among the public so that the latter may access safety tools to prevent the occurrence of cybercrime.
Overall, CyberSecurity Month raises awareness at all social levels. It brings together a wide-range of demographics and encourages businesses to take part in the conversation.
Terranova Encourages Businesses to Engage in Information Security Awareness
Terranova provides a comprehensive solution that educates, inspires, and challenges your employees. Our courses allow staff to improve their role within your business and better contribute to a safer information landscape. You are experts in the field, and we wish to help you teach this expertise to all members of your organization since everyone must do his/her part to uphold social responsibility.
The purpose of information security awareness is largely based on communication. All members of an organization should understand the collective values of the business, including the right to privacy, and know their role in upholding these values. Essentially, an effective security awareness campaign promotes business values via interactive platforms: face-to-face conversations, e-learning, visual material, and online messaging. Consistency is key here as the narratives are intended to teach, inform, and inspire change among users across all corporate levels. Experts must factor in employees and their ability to grow as company ambassadors, applying best practices in their routine. Therefore, raising awareness for information security is very much about empowering humans to play an active part in the contemporary information landscape.
Methodology: Best Practices and Opportunities for Growth
Learning Through Action
Oftentimes, learning is best achieved when it is tangible, applied, and straightforward. It allows users to experience first-hand the material that they are in process of grasping. eLearning Industry reports that direct actions greatly benefit learners as they are not simply consuming the information that is being taught; rather, they are consuming and producing the content of their education. For example, e-learning modules that incorporate games are highly effective channels of communication as learners acquire knowledge by playing in the framework and by respecting the rules of the game. Interestingly, they also produce knowledge by the very act of participating in the game: browsing webpages, selecting essential elements, answering questions, and receiving feedback.
Learning through action is fundamental to the success of your information security campaign. Opting for a strategy that provides a palette of action-related material is ideal when carrying out a company-wide venture. The messages are contextualized in a game, scenario, or narrative, facilitating and challenging the thinking process of each participant.
Learning Through Senses
We refer to the act of immersing oneself into a virtual reality. As do games, simulations appeal to the senses. They include talking with, seeing, and listening – physical efforts that waken the senses. Media scholar Marshall McLuhan introduced the concept of “cool media” in his seminal work, Understanding Media (1964). One characterizes media as cool when the latter engages many senses at once, thus resulting in greater participation on behalf of consumers. E-learning simulations have a similar affect on audiences. They immerse learners into a reality that stimulates most senses and creates a state of complete alertness. eLearning Industry lists the benefits associated to such apprentissage: (1) it explores different methods of learning; (2) it emphasizes change in behavior; (3) it fosters a context for learning; (4) and it facilitates direct participation.
Simulations are interesting vehicles that explore best practices in cybersecurity prevention. Terranova includes a wide selection of immersive narratives that compel learners to explore learning material, and consequently, to apply their newly acquired skills to a controlled environment. Best practices stem from such experiences.
Learning Through Trial & Error
Feedback is a vital component to any type of learning process, and more particularly, essential to the success of your awareness campaign. At this stage, learners have developed the necessary frame of mind to explore and assess the various elements of information security and the risks associated to this reality. Here, we characterize feedback as the process through which information is absorbed, assimilated, articulated, and later evaluated and reviewed. Feedback includes all. It provides room for constructive critique and experimentation. Most importantly, it allows employees to learn from their errors. Considering the extensive landscape of information security and cybercrimes, this method of learning is particularly helpful as it enables learners to test their knowledge at various stages of training and compare results. The learning process is now palpable, less in the abstract.
Terranova understands this reality and makes sure that each e-learning session includes eloquent recaps of the material previously explored. eLearning Industry reinforces this pedagogical component: when learners take on the role of active participants they digest the information at a far better rate than if they simply observed the facts. With just the right amount of stress, simulated through the possibility of cyberthreats, learners understand the salient nature of these campaigns.
Conclusion
As the 2017 edition of CyberSecurity Month takes the lead on business platforms and social media, we suggest that you benefit from this opportunity and start strategizing about your business’ information security campaign and the lasting impact your team wishes to create. Terranova understands that businesses are invested in supporting employee achievements and best practices. When organizations engage in workforce development, they are making sure that staff have the right tools to excel at their jobs. By choosing to raise information security awareness, businesses are supporting their first line of defense: the employee.