Habits Of Highly Successful Security Awareness Programs

PRESS RELEASE

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) December 11, 2012

Wombat Security Technologies (Wombat), a leading provider of cyber security awareness and training solutions, today announced the availability of a new research report by Ira Winkler and Samantha Manke from Internet Security Advisors Group (ISAG) entitled the "Habits of Highly Successful Security Awareness Programs: A Cross-Company Comparison." This new report is intended to help information security departments build effective security awareness and training programs with practical insights on how creative and interactive training methods can be used to increase participation and improve employee behavior modification rates.

"Many information security professionals charged with implementing security awareness programs struggle with outdated training approaches, internal opposition, lack of budget and loosely defined compliance guidelines," said Joe Ferrara, President and CEO of Wombat. "Our goal in sponsoring this report was to enable a more practical discussion around how to effectively build and maintain a security awareness training program that not only meets compliance requirements, but changes user behavior and delivers measurable return on investment."

The report illustrates how challenging security awareness is for information security professionals.

· 90% of the survey respondents were required to comply with at least one standard or regulation that required security awareness training

· 48% of survey respondents reported difficulty in receiving funds for their training programs

· 44% of respondents reported that they had a difficulty encouraging employees to take security seriously

· 65% reported that they created most of their own training materials despite the fact that many practitioners are not familiar with education or learning science principles that can enhance the effectiveness of programs

The new ISAG report uncovers multiple areas where real Fortune 500 companies are using new approaches to security awareness training to achieve better results. Topics include:

· How to obtain C-level support and budget for training programs

· Which departments are critical partners for program success

· How to use metrics to demonstrate positive results

· Why a 90-day program plan works better than a 1-year plan

· How to creatively disseminate materials to improve engagement

· What types of training materials and tools are most effective

A copy of "Habits of Highly Successful Security Awareness Programs: A Cross-Company Comparison " can be downloaded at http://www.wombatsecurity.com/habits_whitepaper.

About Wombat Security Technologies

Wombat Security Technologies helps organizations combat cyber security threats with uniquely effective software-based training solutions. Wombat offers fully automated, highly scalable software-based training solutions, built on learning science principles. They offer mock attacks with brief embedded training, as well as a full complement of 10-minute software training modules. Wombat's training solutions have been shown to reduce employee susceptibility to attack by up to 70%. Wombat is helping Fortune 1000 customers, large government agencies and small to medium businesses in segments such as finance, banking, higher education, retail, technology, energy, insurance, and consumer packaged goods strengthen their cyber security defenses. For more information visithttp://www.wombatsecurity.com or contact Lorraine Kauffman-Hall at 704-882-0443 or lhall(at)attainmarketing(dot)com.

About Internet Security Advisors Group

The Internet Security Advisors Group (ISAG) is a world leading security service firm providing strategic security services. ISAG specializes in providing security awareness services that are based on scientific principles, and can assist any company in creating better security awareness programs. Our security awareness managed service allows companies to outsource their security awareness efforts to experts, providing a security awareness program that is less expensive and more effective. For more information visit http://www.isag.com, call 410-544-3435 or email info(at)isag(dot)com.