As we stand today in 2018, the technology and innovation have rapidly changed the way we live and work.  The market is witnessing the arrival of newer technologies, electronic gadgets that make our life easier and comfortable. Driven by the big data approach, machine learning etc organisations currently have loads of information about their users. With more people accessing the internet daily and with more electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, iPads and wearable devices being launched in the market the data generated is really huge. By 2020, IDC predicts that the amount of data will increase by a thousandfold, reaching a staggering 44 zettabytes of data. 

With the endless possibilities of the technology, it is not an easy task to ensure the information security for the data of the organizations. With the growing amount of data, the responsibility also increases to safeguard it and ensure that it is not used illegally or for any other purposes. It was very recently, the Coca-Cola Company announced a data breach possibly affecting about 8,000 workers due to a former employee having the possession of an external hard drive containing employee personal data. There are various such incidents reported where data leak occurs both intentionally and by the unintentional but careless act of employees like clicking spam emails, visiting malicious websites, using infected USB sticks,  leaving the office laptop open and unattended, social engineering etc.

With these severe threats, organizations have to be ready with their armours to eliminate any chances of such attacks or data breach.
While there are various tools like antivirus, firewall, and other network admin tools etc to aid data security, nothing becomes effective without the best and most powerful safety measure i.e to create awareness among the employees. This can be effectively done by mandatorily conducting training on information security policies. A training on information security can reduce your risk exposure towards data breach and hence I would like to recommend an effective and engaging information security e-learning. An infosec e-learning course makes your employees aware of various information security threats, the prevention measures and incident/s reporting and actions in case of breach of information security policy.

Why is online learning on Information Security for employees, the better option?

1.E-learning is a quick, affordable and effective means of delivering training to multiple learners across the different locations

2.E Learning provides flexible learning option for the learners to access the learning content from anywhere and anytime

3.Tracking and assessment of learners’ progress and achievements is possible or the organization 

4.L earners can revisit the learning topics any number of times to refresh and reinforce the learning

These points can effectively summarize the popular benefits for online learning on info -security v/s  a traditional classroom training program.

Who all should be trained with e-learning on InfoSecurity?

The answer is obvious “Everyone in the organization”. Cybercriminals look for vulnerabilities everywhere in the company network to penetrate the network and gain access to the organization’s valuable data. For example,  a small carelessness caused by any employee in downloading a spam attachment can cause severe damage to the data security of the organization as the virus can easily penetrate the network. Hence everyone should be trained properly on info security. With e-learning, this becomes an easy task as the organisation can easily administer the online learning through the LMS. Even for smaller organizations and SMEs training their employees on infosec is 

What all should an ideal info security e-learning contain?

The infosec e-learning should contain topics like:

  • Physical and environmental security
  • Personal electronic equipment security
  • Electronic data security
  • Email security

For a complete index of Infosec e-learning, please click the link.

To get an idea of a sample e-learning module on Info security, click here.

How can you make your information security e-learning effective?

With the recent developments in the field of e-learning, like using scenario-based learning, using games and gamification etc. information security modules have evolved from click next style of learning to more interactive and engaging ones.

  • Build different engaging scenarios and use thrilling storylines to capture the learners’ attention and to teach them the ways of safe data handling.
  • Include the element of gamification in infosec e-learning to reward or penalize the learners for right and wrong actions. For example, points can be awarded to learners if they prevent an infosec breach and penalties can be given if they download attachments from unknown sources etc. 
  • The module can also use simulations to replicate a real-life case study on infosec to see how prepared your learners are in case of an actual threat.
  • Remember to make the infosec e-learning responsive so that it is future proof.

The biggest benefit of Information security e-learning is that it can be easily updated. With the constantly evolving virus threats and cyber attacks, info security e-learning might require constant updating, which can be easily accomplished (if it is in an online mode) and this updated content can be easily accessed by the learners either through their desktops or through their devices.

To conclude, information security is and will continue to be a major area of concern in every organization and it becomes very important for all organizations irrespective of size and industry to ensure that they train their employees with an effective online module on information security. As a bonus, I would like to share an interactive and engaging e-learning sample on Information Security developed at XLPro e-learning. Visit the link to play the game and test your knowledge and skills.
Want more fun? Share the link with your colleagues and challenge them to beat your scores!