Despite the millions of dollars being spent on security infrastructure, companies are still being compromised through simple employee mistakes or negligence.
Jolera Inc., a Toronto-based multinational technology hybrid aggregate service provider, has launched a hands-on security training service to help organizations better prepare their staff for potential cyberattacks. The white-labeled program is a 90-minute instructor-led workshop that can be delivered in person or online and includes a quiz with a certificate of completion.
“Human error is the leading cause of data breaches today because security is often an afterthought in a world where companies are focusing on keeping up with all the latest new technologies,” Alkin Gorgun, director of cybersecurity training at Jolera and developer of the program, tells IT World Canada. “We wanted to develop a program that empowers people with knowledge of why security is so important and how to be safe. It’s not up to just the IT department anymore, this is an ‘everyone’ problem.”
Gorgun, who developed the program, explains that most existing cybersecurity training comes in the form of online modules that employees don’t take seriously or don’t care about. The Jolera workshop is based on the company’s experience in managing networks for hundreds of customers and engages participants through dialogue, videos, and classroom exercises to ensure employees learn and understand the material.
“We’ve translated these experiences into a non-technical, end-user program that truly gets the message across about what can happen as a result of a cyber breach, and why employees at every level of an organization need to pay attention,” Gorgun adds.
The goal of the training program is to convince employees that cybersecurity is important, he continues, and to teach them defensive measures. Essentially, awareness is the key to ensuring collective safety.
“We want these people to leave the room thinking about security and understanding what happens when they click on that suspicious email. Ransomware, for example, isn’t just about the financial losses – what’s important is that you’re without your computer for a day or even longer and you might lose data permanently. Those factors are critical to businesses,” Gorgun emphasizes.
The training is for both small and medium-sized business, as well as bigger corporations. Available now to partners across Canada, the training workshops are part of a service being sold through the channel community thanks to Jolera’s robust partner ecosystem.
“Jolera builds solutions and takes them to partners who then sell it under their own name. That’s why I brought my program to Jolera initially. There was so much interest in it, I wanted to use Jolera’s existing network and partnerships to reach more people,” Gorgun continues.
At least one of the top five biggest banks in Canada have been in contact with Gorgun to take advantage of the program, as well as one of the largest medical foundations and insurance companies in the country and one of the biggest international retailers. He could not reveal their names for security reasons.
“Some companies are trying to build programs like this in-house, or hire a full-time security expert to train all their staff, but that’s expensive and not really effective. I have a business marketing and cyber security background, so I’ve built a compelling and educational program that focuses on IT safety – they should save their resources,” Gorgun concludes.
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