Why You Need Cybersecurity Awareness Training for Employees

Can your employees spot a traditional phishing email? 

Are they properly trained to recognize a suspicious header or bogus Reply-To domain?

If you can’t confidently answer this, your organization is already operating at increased risk.

One wrong click and a malicious payload is deployed before any security controls or filters can detect or block it. We’re not even talking about AI phishing attacks, which receive a 54% click-through rate (CTR), nearly 4.5x that of traditional phishing attempts.  

The solution? 

Cybersecurity awareness training for employees. 

In this blog, we’ll explore the true value of establishing a cybersecurity awareness training program for employees and how it delivers measurable risk reduction across the board. 

Key Takeaways 

• Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks are on the rise
• 64% of senior IT executives click on phishing links
• An effective cybersecurity awareness training program for employees should include phishing simulations and gamification techniques

What is Cybersecurity Awareness Training?

Cybersecurity awareness training helps educate employees on how to recognize and report common threats and attacks targeted at organizations, such as phishing, business email compromise (BEC), and social engineering tactics.  

Threat actors are leveraging AI to accelerate phishing campaigns at scale. The semantics are no longer delivered in spam blasts. Large language models (LLMs) can dynamically tailor tone and context to match an organization’s internal communications and executive writing styles.

Yet, traditional phishing attacks remain the real threats MSPs need to worry about. The risk extends beyond new hires to senior roles, with a staggering 64% of senior IT executives having clicked on phishing links, and 17% failing to report it. No AI assistance required. Just old-fashioned lookalike sender addresses and spoofed domains. 

This is where cybersecurity awareness training becomes so critical. 

Here are 40 Security Awareness Statistics MSPs Can’t Ignore in 2025. 

The Importance of Cybersecurity Awareness Training for Employees

Cybersecurity awareness training is essential. 

For organizations, implementing a cybersecurity awareness training program can save them millions from potential breaches and regulatory fines. Consider a scenario where HR receives an “urgent email” from a trusted vendor asking to pay an invoice. 

The vendor’s company logo is a near-perfect match, the invoice format appears legitimate, and the email successfully passes basic SPF and DKIM checks. On the surface, everything looks good, and nothing seems out of the ordinary.

Until the link is clicked.

The malicious redirect may lead to a credential harvesting page that captures OAuth tokens or user passwords.

Without proper cybersecurity awareness training, that same HR director may enable a macro-embedded attachment, triggering a BEC attack. From there, threat actors can move laterally into M365 or payroll systems, modify bank account and routing details, exfiltrate PII, or initiate fraudulent wire transfers, all without triggering firewall rules or alerts. 

And BEC attacks have been on the rise this year. 

A recent study found that BEC attack volume increased by 37% month-over-month (MoM) in June 2025. Key findings also showed that 43% of those attacks came from maliciously registered domains during the same period. This places security teams in a difficult spot if employees cannot recognize the common techniques used by attackers. Cybersecurity awareness training programs help employees identify suspicious emails and take immediate action by reporting them, enabling IT to contain and mitigate potential threats.

What Makes a Cybersecurity Awareness Training Program for Employees Effective?

Here are 4 effective ways to ensure your program delivers real security impact to get the most returns:

1. Test employees with phishing simulations: Phishing templates can be adapted to accommodate all levels of cybersecurity readiness. From beginner campaigns to more advanced AI-generated phishing attacks, an organization can gain deeper visibility into the most common pitfalls that lead employees to click on malicious links or file attachments. These insights provide security teams with the data they need to fine-tune policies and enhance training practices. Phishing simulations are the benchmark for measuring the success of cybersecurity awareness training. 
2. Incorporate gamification techniques to ensure program completeness: No one enjoys completing a routine phishing simulation or security training assessment if it feels like a mandatory company requirement. This is where elements of gamification can be introduced to make these challenges more interactive. Slack is a perfect platform where these gamification elements can be integrated: for example, a dedicated #cybersecurity-awareness-challenges channel can display weekly phishing simulation scores and post achievement badges for employees who successfully identify simulated threats, thereby building a culture of continuous cybersecurity awareness.
3. Reward employee vigilance: Gift cards are thoughtful and well-deserved for anyone who proactively reports a phishing email. Not only does this incentivize action, but it also helps prevent potential breaches and costly class-action lawsuits. Rewards don’t have to be monetary. They can be shout-outs during team meetings or all-hands calls, and recognition from leadership in company newsletters, which also goes a long way to boost employee confidence and retention. 
4. Continually track and measure KPIs: This is where cybersecurity awareness training programs show you what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to be improved ASAP. Metrics such as click-through rates (CTR) and time to report (TTR) can indicate areas that need dedicated improvement. 

Need more incentive to incorporate cybersecurity awareness training? 

Research taken from KnowBe4 found that 90 days of security awareness training can reduce risk by over 40%, with the risk dropping by an astounding 86% to 4.1% after one year. 

There’s no question that the value and returns are there. 

Streamline Cybersecurity Awareness Training with Guardz

The best form of cybersecurity is a proactive approach. Guardz provides MSPs with automated security training awareness campaigns that drive employee vigilance and minimize the overall threat surface. Set and schedule campaigns by topic or user group to target high-risk areas and ensure consistent coverage across the organization.

Track employee engagement, performance, and security completion rates from a centralized dashboard, and benchmark KPIs over time. 

See the results for yourself. Enhance your employee security awareness training with Guardz. 

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FAQs About Cybersecurity Awareness Training for Employees

What is the main purpose of cybersecurity awareness training in the workplace?

To educate employees on common cybersecurity risks, such as phishing and social engineering, and keep them vigilant so they can recognize and report threats before they lead to incidents.  

Where to start with cybersecurity awareness training for employees?

Start by assessing your organization’s current risk posture. Establish a baseline using phishing simulations, then use those metrics to prioritize training, reinforce policies, and measure improvement over time.

What is an example of a cybersecurity awareness training program? A good example of an effective cybersecurity awareness training program is phishing simulations. They mimic realistic phishing attack scenarios to test how employees respond to suspicious emails and other social engineering tactics.