Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, has released its 2023 Security Awareness and Training Global Research Brief, highlighting the importance of organisations building a cyber-aware workforce to strengthen their security posture and reduce cyberattacks.

Enabling employees to protect their organisation’s most critical digital assets

Organisations are grappling with an increasingly sophisticated threat landscape. The most recent Global Threat Landscape Report from Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs found that ransomware threats remain at peak levels with no evidence of slowing down globally. At the same time, Fortinet’s 2023 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Global Report found that 84 per cent of organisations experienced one or more breaches in 2022.

And now the latest research from Fortinet’s 2023 Security Awareness and Training Global Research Brief reveals that more than 90 per cent of leaders believe that increased employee cybersecurity awareness would help decrease the occurrence of cyberattacks. As organisations face increasing cyber risks, the research highlights the important role of employees in serving as an organisation’s first line of defence in protecting their organisation from cybercrime. Additional key findings from Fortinet’s research include:

• Employees are being targeted by cyber criminals. The research found that 81 per cent of organisations faced malware, phishing, and password attacks last year which mainly were targeted at users. This underscores that employees can be an organisation’s weakest point or one of its most powerful defences.
• Having an effective training program is key to instilling good cyber hygiene in employees. Eighty-five percent of leaders say their organisation has a security awareness and training program, yet more than 50 per cent believe their employees still lack cybersecurity knowledge. This gap suggests the training programs in place may not be as effective as they could be, resulting in inconsistency in how employees apply good cyber hygiene practices or that training is not reinforced sufficiently.
• Cybersecurity is increasingly becoming a priority for the board of directors. The report found that 93 per cent of organisations indicated their board of directors are asking about the organisation’s cyber defences and strategy.

Building a cyber aware workforce with Fortinet’s Security Awareness and Training service

For organisations looking to implement cybersecurity awareness training for their employees or those evaluating the effectiveness of their current program, Fortinet offers its Security Awareness and Training service to develop a cyber-aware workforce. Designed by the Fortinet Training Institute’s world-class trainers, the service covers a broad range of topics in a practical way and reinforces learnings with reminders and checks, helping to improve training outcomes. Organisations deploying the service also have access to a dashboard and reporting to address cyber insurance and compliance needs.

The service uniquely leverages FortiGuard Labs threat intelligence, providing frequently updated training informed by developments observed across the threat landscape. Additionally, the service aligns with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines – NIST 800-50 and NIST 800-16 – to further ensure key topics are covered including, information security, data privacy, physical security, password protection, and internet security.

Fortinet has also tailored this service for educators and made it available for free to school districts and systems across the United States and local education authorities in the United Kingdom, with plans to continue increasing access globally.

About the Fortinet cyber awareness survey:

• The survey was conducted among more than 1,800 IT and/or cybersecurity decision-makers from 29 different locations.
• Survey respondents came from a range of industries, including technology (21 per cent), manufacturing (16 per cent), and financial services (13 per cent).

Additional resources

• Read more about the importance of cyber awareness training for employees in this blog.
• Learn about Fortinet’s free cybersecurity training, which includes broad cyber awareness and product training. As part of the Fortinet Training Advancement Agenda (TAA), the Fortinet Training Institute also provides training and certification through the Network Security Expert (NSE) certification, Academic Partner, and Education Outreach programs.
• Read about how Fortinet customers are securing their organisations.
• Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe to Fortinet on our blog or YouTube.

About Fortinet

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organisation, develops and utilises leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet blog, and FortiGuard Labs.

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