In today’s competitive markets, businesses must embrace digital transformation to meet customer demands and expectations, but with this comes an increased threat of cyber-attacks and breaches. Digital transformation technologies are extremely vulnerable to cyber-attacks that are designed to breach valuable data – the prime target in cyber crimes. This data can contain confidential, intellectual, and private information, which cyber criminals aim to sell at the highest bidding with no empathy to the organisation or business, far less the customer – identify as us, our families, friends, etc. In the process of digital transformation, it is essential for businesses to understand the potential cyber risks they can encounter. This understanding will help organisations to effectively manage their overall business risks, minimising potential threats to their operations.

Cyber risks can have a severe impact on a business’s viability and should not be taken lightly, especially in accordance with data protection laws and regulations, regulatory industry compliance and other negative business-related resulting risks – such as financial, legal, operational, and reputational risks – just to name a few. The ability to understand and manage cyber risks is reflected in the maturity of the organisation/business strategic security program, which will demonstrate its cyber resilience capacity capability level.

To enhance cyber resilience programs, organisations must prioritise the implementation of comprehensive Security Awareness Programs.

These programs serve as a critical defence against criminal attacks and deceptive tactics that threaten to compromise an organisation’s security through its valuable and unsuspected employees.

By equipping employees with the knowledge and tools necessary to identify and mitigate potential security risks, Security Awareness Programs are implemented to strengthen an organisation’s overall security posture, halting or minimising the impact of a cyber incident, which can lead to critical business operational risks and/or a breach. Hence, they represent a crucial investment in the long-term viability and success of any modern business or organisation.

Building a cyber-human firewall is one of the most crucial risk-based security controls that should be implemented in all organisations, businesses, institutions, etc. These programs should comply with the overarching cyber risk management program to maintain safety in the current cyberwarfare atmosphere that affects all of us.

The efficacy of the program is derived from:

• The organisation’s cyber awareness of its evolving threat landscape due to digital transformation.
• The utilisation of automation in delivering educational training content at varying complexity levels.
• AI-enabled simulation attack approaches incorporating multi-vector attacks: Email, SMS, landing pages, etc., exposing the trainee to real-time threat scenarios.
• The utilisation of varying learning methodologies for a successful learning experience by the trainee through the use of videos, interactive games, quizzes, simulated threat tests, etc.
• The ability to offer micro-training to employees or teams needing further training
• Insights: Providing complete visibility into the employee’s and/or organisation’s awareness levels, performance, and progress, as well as comprehensive organisational data analysis and reports.
• Enabling Employees’ Defence Reporting through native reporting plugins, Response Console, and First-Aid Forensics.

To effectively mitigate the risks inherent in digital transformation, swift and resolute action through security awareness is imperative. These risks are expected to persist beyond 2023, and failing to do so may result in devastating consequences for all parties involved.