National Cyber Security Awareness Month: Focus on People

National Cyber Security Awareness Month: Focus on People

Every October, National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) reminds us of ways to protect sensitive and private data from various forms of cybercrime. By 2025, cybercrime is estimated to cost $10.5 trillion – with a T – increasing by 15% year over year (Cybersecurity Ventures).

The average data breach costs $4.35 million, which is a 2.6% increase from 2021, according to the IBM Security Cost of Data Breach Report 2022. Beyond the extreme financial ramifications, cybercrime can result in system downtime, destroyed reputations, lost opportunities, reduced efficiency, and more. It’s crucial to prevent, prepare for, and mitigate these cyber threats so our information remains safeguarded. 

About National Cyber Security Awareness Month

NCSAM began in 2004 as a joint effort between the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its goal is to have government entities and the private sector work together in raising awareness about digital security initiatives, highlighting measures and resources that help individuals and organizations stay safe online. 

Focus on People

This year’s NCSAM campaign theme is “See Yourself in Cyber,” which focuses on the human element of cybersecurity. We love that because Cloud Range has always focused on people. Effective cybersecurity defense relies on the right blend of people, processes, and technology. We believe people are the most important because they are the ones who run the processes and technology. That’s why all of Cloud Range’s products and services – as outlined in the Cyber Learner Lifecycle™ –  focus on the continuous growth, education, development, and training of people. 

Group Cyberattack Exercises 

Team training on Cloud Range’s cyber range keeps security professionals updated on the threat landscape. Plus, it arms them with technical, problem-solving, and critical thinking capabilities – as well as enhanced communication and collaboration skills. Security professionals enjoy the opportunity to practice detection, investigation, and response in a realistic, protected, live-fire environment. Cloud Range simulation attack scenarios can be customized as needed for each organization’s security operations center (SOC), incident response (IR), and digital forensics teams – to match their experience levels and meet their objectives. Even more than the knowledge, skills, and capabilities that team training provides, it gives both the team members and their managers confidence that they are ready to defend against the next cyberattack.

Cyber Skills Development

Cloud Range FlexLabs™ cyber skills & development solutions provide interactive, hands-on training to cyber learners of all experience levels, novice to ninja. With more than 1,500 labs, FlexLabs’ realistic environments and exercises help users develop and enhance the necessary abilities to keep up with today’s cybersecurity challenges. FlexLabs help security leaders upskill team members, fill any gaps found during the live-fire, team simulation exercises, and create custom learning paths for team members to advance within the organization.

Hiring and Retaining Cyber Talent

With the current cyber skills shortage, security leaders are putting an increased focus on hiring and retention. Cloud Range’s assessments can help hiring managers understand candidates’ knowledge, skills and capabilities – beyond what’s listed on a resume. RightTrak™ Cyber Aptitude Assessments optimize cyber hiring by aligning innate cognitive strengths to cybersecurity job requirements. FastTrak™ Candidate Assessments incorporate role-based simulation exercises to objectively evaluate a candidate’s skills and performance. Cyber hiring teams use these assessments for hiring, moving people to different roles, and promoting. They help leaders ensure the right people are in the right seats with a plan for continued career growth. 

A Focus on People Improves the Entire Organization

During National Cyber Security Awareness Month – and all year round – we encourage all organizations to focus more on PEOPLE. They are a vital part of your technology stack. When security teams are more prepared and confident, organizations will benefit from an improved security posture and measurably reduced risk.

Request a demo of Cloud Range’s people-focused solutions here.