Cyber Training Platform: Hands-on Approach vs Courses for Employees

Cyber Training Platform: Hands-on Approach vs Courses for Employees

The average cost of a data breach skyrocketed to $4.35 million in 2022, a historic high, according to IBM Security's “The Cost of a Data Breach Report.”

This concerning trend underscores the urgency for organizations worldwide to take proactive measures in preventing such incidents. Cyber training platforms offer a valuable solution by educating employees and improving their preparedness against cyber threats and attacks.

In this article, we emphasize the role of cyber training platforms in today's digital landscape. We will tell you all about the distinctions between hands-on training methodologies and theoretical cyber awareness training, exploring their relevance for different types of organizations.

Why Is It Important to Use a Cyber Training Platform for an Organization?

Promoting cybersecurity awareness and educating employees on this critical topic is paramount for ensuring organizational safety and strengthening cyber resilience. 

In today's digital landscape, employees must be well-informed about potential threats. Research indicates that in 2023, 74% of breaches involved the human element, encompassing social engineering attacks, errors, and misuse.

By providing employees with access to a cyber training platform, companies can take significant strides in preventing data breaches and phishing attacks, fostering a culture of security, and ensuring compliance with necessary regulations.

Broadly, organizations can offer two types of training to their employees: practical, hands-on training involving simulations and real-life scenarios, and cybersecurity awareness training sessions that take a more theoretical approach.

In the following sections, we will explore the benefits of each of these training categories.

Benefits for the Hands-on Learning Approach in Cyber Security

  • Mitigate Risks

The hands-on training approach equips participants with practical industry knowledge and helps them experiment with best practices. That way, employees learn about the industry's latest trends, applications, and technologies they can use to make their organizations safer. 

That said, organizations who actively invest in creating practical training sessions and exercises have higher chances of succeeding when facing various cyber threats and attacks in real life. 

  • Implement Best Practices

One more key advantage of the practical training approach in cybersecurity is that it serves as an ideal starting point for companies to develop powerful security measures. 

At the same time, it helps organizations navigate through the process, letting management decide which practices they should consider implementing in their everyday operations. 

  • Ensure Regulatory Compliance

Having a proper cyber training platform can be an invaluable tool for companies to ensure they meet regulatory compliance requirements in their industry. 

That way, employees in the company are always aware of the latest regulations and know all about their importance in protecting the organization's data system from potential cyber threats. 

  • Become More Cyber Resilient

Cyber resilience refers to the ability of an organization to protect itself from, detect, respond to, and recover from potential cyber threats. 

Improving this aspect of an organization is one of the most beneficial advantages that practical cybersecurity training can provide. Cyber attacks are constantly evolving, and it is becoming increasingly challenging to ensure safety. 

The practical cyber training platform can provide this opportunity to train employees with the most advanced technology, giving them the knowledge they need to face cyber challenges in the future. 

Benefits for Theoretical Courses in Cyber Security

  • Increase Awareness

Organizing theoretical training sessions for employees will increase overall awareness and help them identify potential threats such as ransomware, malware, phishing, and more. 

This way, businesses will effectively reduce their employees' chances of becoming victims of cyber attacks by training them to recognize suspicious emails, links, or attachments. 

  • Reduce Costs

It can be very costly for any business or organization to face a data breach. These costs generally include legal fees and reputational damage. However, companies can easily reduce risks if they conduct proper cybersecurity training sessions for employees. 

  • Boost Your Team’s Productivity

Raising awareness about cybersecurity can also help with boosting your employee productivity level. 

When your team members have the proper knowledge to identify and prevent threats, they spend less time researching, and primarily, their productivity levels go up, which can have a positive impact on organizations of any size. 

  • Maintain Trust From Customers

It is important for businesses to build trust with their customers to grow their business exponentially. Incidents caused by cyber-attacks, such as data breaches, can significantly harm an organization's reputation and trust level. 

A proper cybersecurity training session can address this issue and help businesses show their customers that they take data protection seriously, which builds more trust in the long term. 

What Are the Key Differences Between Theoretical and Practical Learning Methods for Organizations?

When it comes to training your team and preparing an organization to face potential cyber threats and attacks, it is important to keep in mind that theoretical learning is key to an educational foundation. However, putting these learnings into practice is crucial for ensuring that training has been effective and useful for the organization's staff. 

There are a couple of factors to think about when deciding on which approach to choose for enhancing your organization's cyber resilience. 

The first factor is the stage of the company – this will help you understand your company's current needs and identify key areas you need to improve with the help of cybersecurity training. 

Another key factor to consider is the industry your organization operates in – for example, if the company has a critical infrastructure to take care of, then it is vital to make sure that team members are fully aware of potential threats in their domain. 

All in all, innovative training solutions like cyber range can help your team improve their knowledge and test their cyber response capabilities. It provides a safe environment for organizations to gain hands-on cyber skills for security posture testing. 

With the realistic simulated environment, cyber ranges help organizations play out different attack scenarios and improve their cyber resilience, assisting them with both, gaining theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in tackling cyber challenges. 

Conclusion 

As the digital landscape evolves, the significance of having a proper cyber training platform cannot be overstated. 

Companies and organizations worldwide must embrace innovative hands-on practical training solutions like Cyber Range technology to educate their teams and enhance their cyber resilience. 

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If you’d like to view the full article and learn more about the approaches that organizations can take with cyber training platforms, feel free to visit this link and contact us in case of any questions.

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