Security Mentor Releases Latest Version of Security Awareness Training Program
January 2017 by Marc Jacob
Security Mentor announced the latest product release of the Security Mentor Training Program. New release features fall into three key areas of interest to enterprises: the ability to measure the effectiveness of training programs, content addressing current risks and maximizing training effectiveness by offering localized training. Among the significant new features is the addition of pre- and post-training assessments and end-of-lesson quizzes, which together enable organizations gain insights into the success of their training programs.
According to Gartner research Vice President Andrew Walls, the security awareness training market is worth more than $1 billion a year and growing at a rate of 13 percent annually. Businesses of all sizes continue to invest in developing human capital, and are demanding return on investment (ROI). Evaluating and demonstrating employee skills, and overall value to the organization, is a business imperative. Employee security awareness training programs are no exception. Organizations need to shift from implementing simple “check-the-box” security awareness solutions to truly effective solutions.
“With escalating hacking attacks, ransomware and data breaches, the C-Suite is facing mounting pressure to not only increase the security of their employees, but also measure the effectiveness of their security education program,” said Marie White, CEO and President, Security Mentor. “While there are other security awareness solutions on the market, Security Mentor distances itself by offering the complete package – a training solution with robust content that is brief, engaging, and interactive, and ultimately effective at driving real behavior change.”
The Security Mentor Training Program now provides a two-pronged approach for measuring training effectiveness and compliance reporting:
1. Pre- and post-training assessments measure the security knowledge/skills acquired by employees through taking the Security Mentor Training Program. Pre-assessments are given prior to employees starting training and then again at training conclusion.
2. End-of-lesson quizzes measure immediate knowledge/skills that employees mastered in each security lesson.
In combination, these assessment methods provide clients the tools to measure the impact of Security Mentor’s training in their organization, and to determine ROI, and thereby to justify an investment in properly training their employees. The latest release also expands Security Mentor’s robust training curriculum to include two new lessons addressing current threats and risks to which employees are exposed: “Insider Threat” and the “Internet of Things (IoT)”. The inclusion of these lessons brings the total number of lessons in the training curricula to 20. Throughout 2017, Security Mentor will continue to release new lessons addressing pressing critical security and compliance topics.
Another new feature in this product release is the addition of training in Dutch and Japanese languages. Security awareness training is leveraged by organizations worldwide in virtually every industry to secure their employees. To ensure each employee understands the implications of their actions and their responsibilities, it is ideal that employees take training in their native language. To meet the needs our global client base, Security Mentor training is now translated and localized in eleven languages with the newly added Dutch and Japanese to join English, French, French Canadian, German, Italian, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish and Swedish.