120 minutes that can save your company – a cybersecurity awareness training

cybersecurity training unshade.pl

No big budget needed to significantly improve security. All it takes is two hours. Two hours that won’t change the world, but could protect your company from severe consequences. And this is not theory. This is practice, evident in every incident that could have been avoided. And there are plenty of them.

Entry through the mailbox, not the back door

Anyone with experience in IT security doesn’t laugh at the circus and knows that attacks rarely play out like in the movies. In reality, it’s not just the technical skills of the attacker (who bypasses advanced security systems) that determine the success of an attack, but, most importantly, employee awareness.

Example image cisa.gov

The scenario is often simple: another email arrives. Someone opens the attachment because it looks good – maybe it’s another job offer. Or clicks the link because “the system requires authentication.” And suddenly, the entire chain of security – often built over years, relying on advanced systems and huge budgets – no longer matters. Not because it was faulty, but because the user let the threat inside the organization, unknowingly.

Awareness is not a luxury

This isn’t an article about how employees are the weakest link. On the contrary – they can be (and should be!) the most effective line of defense. As long as they understand the threats and know how to respond.

Cyber security awareness isn’t something you can pass on once during onboarding, or with a PDF and call it done. It’s a process. Well-designed training should change the way people think and build habits.

It’s not about checking off attendance, but about genuinely understanding the threats and learning defense mechanisms – how to spot phishing, how to verify links or domains, when and how to report an incident, and how not to be manipulated. These are things people can implement immediately – without extra costs and without excuses.

The world is changing – so must training

Cybercrime evolves faster than internal procedures, with new methods emerging all the time: smishing, quishing, deepfakes in recruitment processes, etc etc.

These are not hypothetical scenarios – these are real incidents that happen every day.

2025 Cyber Threat Statistics

  • 82% of all security breaches in 2025 were caused by human errors, including clicking malicious links or opening suspicious attachments.
  • 87% of organizations in the US reported phishing attempts over the past 12 months, and 74% of employees who received such an email clicked on the malicious link.
  • 76% of companies fell victim to smishing (SMS phishing) in 2024.
  • 94% of organizations experienced email security incidents, with 96% suffering negative consequences.
  • 22% of phishing attacks used QR codes, which accounted for 40% of all such attacks.
  • 68% of small businesses that experienced ransomware attacks paid the ransom. The average recovery cost was $1.85 million.
  • 80% of data breaches in small businesses were due to phishing attacks.

The latest information on ransomware attacks and victims can be tracked at https://www.ransomware.live/

Example image ransomwarelive | Data from 25-04-2025

And really, it takes so little to avoid them.

Training isn’t a one-off product. It’s a process that requires regular refreshing – the content, the format, and the context. Only then does it make sense. If your presentation still has slides from two or three years ago, it’s a bit like teaching about modern threats with a Windows XP manual.

Well-designed training is not a checklist presentation. It’s a tool that helps people understand how attacks work and how to effectively prevent them – not by scaring them, but by taking a rational approach to the topic.

This isn’t about adding another certificate. It’s about ensuring that after such a meeting, people:

  • can recognize unusual situations,
  • can identify attempts at manipulation,
  • know what, how, and to whom to report,
  • are not afraid to report incidents and ask questions when something seems suspicious,
  • and have the awareness and competence to correctly assess risks and respond appropriately.

120 minutes that can really make a difference

You can have the best EDR, SIEM, network segmentation, MFA, and backups in three locations. But the moment someone logs into a fake site, the system no longer matters.

Good training doesn’t last forever. It doesn’t need to. But in 120 minutes, you can:

  • show concrete, real examples from life,
  • explain how social engineering works and what to watch out for,
  • teach how to check links, emails, domains, and senders,
  • debunk popular myths about cybersecurity and build healthy skepticism,
  • and – most importantly – develop an approach where every suspicious signal triggers reflection, and is not overlooked.

Example image keepnetlabs.com

Users on the front line

It’s employees who are closest to the touchpoints with threats. They see emails, answer phones, use systems, log into tools. If they’re aware, they can stop the threat before it spreads.

You don’t need to scare them. Just talk about the threats openly, honestly, and regularly – with examples that make sense and relate to their daily work. No fluff. No artificial slides. Just solid knowledge.

Summary

  • Security incidents most often start with simple mistakes.
  • Even the best security measures can’t replace user awareness.
  • Well-designed and regularly updated training is a good investment.
  • 120 minutes once a quarter may have a bigger impact than a $50,000 audit.
  • An aware team = safer business, more stable environment.

You don’t need to make a revolution. Just a good conversation. And 120 minutes that are worth more than any security system.

Example image Poland statistics | Data from 25-04-2025

Sources

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