E-Learning for Cybersecurity: Why Every Employee Needs It

In today’s digital world, cybersecurity is no longer just a concern for IT professionals—it's essential for everyone in an organisation, from top executives to entry-level employees. The main reason for this is that humans are often the weakest link in security, but they can also become the strongest defence if properly trained. That’s why businesses need to prioritise cybersecurity education for all staff members.

Humans: The Greatest Risk and Defense

People are at the centre of every business's security system. Whether they realise it or not, employees are constantly at risk of falling victim to cyberattacks, particularly phishing. Phishing is when cybercriminals try to trick people into giving away sensitive information, such as passwords or financial details, by pretending to be legitimate organisations.

According to the UK government, 59% of medium and large businesses experienced a cyberattack in the past year (Gov.uk), and over 80% of these attacks started with human error, usually through phishing (UK, EU) . In 2022 alone, an astonishing 1.7 billion phishing messages were sent (Security Magazine). This shows how much of a threat phishing poses to businesses today. But with proper e-learning and continuous cybersecurity education, employees can recognize these attacks and prevent them.

Core Elements of Cybersecurity Training

Effective e-learning programs for cybersecurity, such as those provided by Lupasafe, focus on several key areas. Employees need to know how to:

• Handle phishing attacks: Learn to identify phishing emails and avoid clicking on suspicious links.
• Recognize suspicious emails and websites: Train employees to look out for tell-tale signs of scams.
• Secure passwords and use multi-factor authentication Password security is essential, and using multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of defence.
• Safely share and store data: Employees should know how to protect sensitive information.
• Understand the risks of public Wi-Fi networks: Using unsecured Wi-Fi can expose your business to hackers.

These topics are essential for all employees, regardless of their role in the company. Since cybercriminals often target people, making sure your team understands these basics can drastically reduce the risk of a breach.

Why Regular Cybersecurity Training Is Critical

It’s not enough to attend one cybersecurity training session and be done with it. Hackers are constantly changing their tactics, and new types of attacks emerge all the time. For this reason, employees need to refresh their cybersecurity education regularly, ideally at least once a month. Regular e-learning helps employees stay up to date with the latest threats and how to defend against them. Monthly training ensures that everyone is on the same page and prepared for any new challenges.

Education for All: From Beekeepers to Schools

Cybersecurity is relevant to every type of business or organisation. It’s not just big tech companies that are at risk—small businesses, local shops, even beekeepers and honey farmers need to be aware of these dangers. Schools and educational institutions are also a prime target. In fact, 34% of schools and colleges in England experienced a cyber incident last year, and 23% of those were caused by phishing attacks . 20% of schools could not recover immediately, and 4% took more than half a term to recover from these incidents, showing the significant impact that poor cybersecurity can have on any organisation .

Ofqual’s Executive Director of General Qualifications Amanda Swann said: “Losing coursework that is the result of many hours of hard work is every student’s nightmare. Even more distressing is losing a whole class or year group’s coursework because of weak cyber security on a school or college IT system”

Schools are rolling out cybersecurity training programs for both staff and students to help safeguard their data and protect students' hard work. Losing student coursework due to a cyberattack is every school’s worst nightmare, but with proper training, these risks can be minimised. Phishing attacks have many forms, from basic email scams to more advanced methods like spear-phishing, which targets specific individuals, and smishing or vishing, which involve text messages and phone calls.

E-Learning is Key for Employee Safety

E-learning platforms, such as ones provided by Lupasafe, take a holistic approach to building a culture of security in the workplace. Their training is designed to reduce risk by turning employees into part of the solution, aligned with a comprehensive view of technical security and risk management. Lupasafe’s e-learning courses are simple, engaging, and easy to follow, making it possible for anyone to become an active guardian of their company’s cybersecurity, and even reduce their home tech security risk too.