Security Awareness as a Service
Security Awareness as a Service is a de-risking, training and education solution to help organisations maintain ongoing cyber security training for their teams all year round.
Embracing a positive security culture
The weakest link when it comes to cyber security is often the people within an organisation. Individuals within a company without a positive security culture, often hesitate to speak up and flag security breaches, irrespective of the severity.
Embracing a positive security culture by nurturing security awareness within your teams contributes towards protecting your company against cyber attacks and breaches. A security aware team essentially creates a human firewall, acting as the first line of defence when it comes to safeguarding your organisation. Sharp's Security Awareness as a Service aids this, learn more below.
Security Awareness as a Service
Security Awareness as a Service (SAaaS) is a comprehensive solution for you to mitigate risks, deliver training, and provide educational resources for your team when it comes to cyber security. This service aids you in upholding consistent cyber security training for your teams throughout the entire year.
Security Awareness as a Service isn’t intended to turn your teams into cyber security experts; rather, it equips them with the appropriate tools and insights to effectively recognise and report potential threats. This, in turn, ensures that your organisations remains protected from cyber attacks and breaches.
The Security Awareness Service includes an initial assessment, where all applicable team members are tested on their cyber security knowledge of; Incident Reporting, Internet Use, Social Media, Email Security, Passwords and Authentication, Mobile Devices, and Human Firewalls.
This is to help us understand the current level of knowledge across your organisation as opposed to individual scores, to support us in crafting tailored cyber security user awareness training.
Security Awareness as a Service Packages
There are three options within the Security Awareness as a Service offering – Phishing Tests Only, Security Training Only, or a package that combines both.
Phishing Only
The Phishing Only package includes monthly AI-driven phishing campaigns that evolve based on individual actions. For example, if a user continuously clicks on phishing emails, the difficulty level of their monthly phishing simulation will be reduced to help with their ongoing education.
Phishing Training is also included as part of the package, offering in-depth training on how to spot and report a phishing email. It teaches your teams how to distinguish between spam, phishing, and spear-phishing emails. Targeted remediation phishing training is given to team members who are identified as high-risk.
A Phish Alert Button (PAB) will also be embedded in Microsoft Outlook desktop and online for all users so that in the event a real phishing email is reported, it will be automatically logged with your Sharp Helpdesk team and removed from the user’s mailbox preventing accidental clicking.
Training Only
The Training Only package offers cyber security training to all users following an initial assessment which is delivered to all applicable team members to assess their cyber security knowledge and experience against seven key areas: Incident Reporting, Internet Use, Social Media, Email Security, Passwords and Authentication, Mobile Devices, and Human Firewalls.
The cyber security training is initially deployed to all users within the business and subsequently to any new joiners. A key feature to note is that your organisation’s cyber security knowledge is benchmarked against your peers’, helping you identify and benchmark your cyber security knowledge against similar organisations to you.
Any new team members will be automatically allocated this training. This training plan is established by the team at Sharp and will be reviewed each year in line with available content and ongoing/emerging cyber security threats.
Combined
The combined Security Awareness as a Service package includes both aspects of the Training Only Package and the Phishing Only Package.
An initial assessment will be delivered to all relevant team members, which assesses their cyber security knowledge and experience against 7 key topics; Incident Reporting, Internet Use, Social Media, Email Security, Passwords and Authentication, Mobile Devices, and Human Firewalls. The aim is to understand the cyber security knowledge across your entire organisation so that tailored training can be delivered. Subsequent training will be delivered once a year.
A monthly AI-driven phishing simulation will be sent to all team members, putting into practice what they have learned through the ongoing training. Your team will also learn about the Phish Alert Button (PAB), an email plugin that gives your team a safe way to handle actual or potential phishing emails. It teaches your team how to distinguish between spam, phishing, and spear-phishing emails so that in the event a real phishing email is reported, it will be automatically logged with your Sharp Helpdesk team and removed from the user’s mailbox preventing accidental clicking.
Benefits of Security Awareness as a Service
Supports GDPR Best Practice
Educating employees on cyber security demonstrates a business’ obligation under GDPR legislation to train their team in protecting personal data. Also proves best practice for security accreditations including ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials.
Fully managed by Sharp
Sharp do all the work so that you don’t have to. Sharp is entirely responsible for delivering Security Awareness as a Service to your organisation and educating employees on cyber security, saving you time and resource, as well as giving you the peace of mind that you have a team of technical experts on hand.
Improved Security Knowledge
Through both cyber security training and phishing training, your team will have an enhanced core understanding of security across the organisations. Even basic cyber security awareness will improve security practices in the workplace and personal lives.
Cyber Security Services
Learn more about our Cyber Security Offering
Cyber Security FAQs
A human firewall is the term used to describe the collective efforts of an organisations employees to act as a line of defence against various cyber security threats. Just as a physical firewall is a barrier to prevent the spread of fire, a human firewall refers to the network of individuals within an organisation who are educated, vigilant and equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to identify and respond to threats. Your team doesn’t need to be cyber security experts, they just need to be able to spot and report threats.
Security awareness training for employees is essential because it empowers them to recognise and respond to cyber security threats. By educating your team about risks, evolving tactics, and best practices, organisations create a proactive defence against human errors and cyber attacks. This cyber security training cultivates a positive security culture, reduces data breach risks, enhances compliance, and safeguards brand reputation, which all contribute towards a comprehensive cyber security strategy. At Sharp, we always recommend a multi-layered approach to cyber security and internal training to enhance cyber security knowledge is one key layer to this.
Cyber security is of high importance to businesses due to its multifaceted impact. It shields sensitive data from breaches and unauthorised access, preserving customer trust and safeguarding financial records, proprietary information, and intellectual property. The financial repercussions of cyber attacks are significant, which can result in direct costs like incident response and data recovery, as well as indirect costs tied to reputation damage and business downtime/disruption.
Compliance with stringent data protection regulations is essential, and robust cyber security measures ensure businesses avoid legal consequences and fines. By upholding their operational continuity, thwarting phishing attacks, and addressing emerging threats, businesses bolster their competitive edge and build a foundation of trust with partners and clients. In an era of evolving cyber threats and remote work complexities, prioritising cyber security is an imperative strategy for long-term success and resilience.
Cyber security primarily deals with protecting computer systems, networks, software, and data from cyber threats, which include unauthorised access, attacks, and disruptions. It involves measures to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber attacks, such as hacking, malware, phishing, and denial-of-service attacks. Cyber security often emphasises the digital realm, focusing on protecting electronic assets and systems.
Information security, on the other hand, encompasses a broader scope. It includes the protection of all forms of information, whether in digital, physical, or analogue formats, from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. This includes sensitive documents, intellectual property, physical records, and more. Information security involves policies, procedures, and controls that safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information, regardless of the medium in which it is stored or transmitted.
Awards & Accreditations
Cyber Essentials PLUS
ISO27001