Do you have the right cyber security training to take a joke?

What does cyber security training have to do with jokes, you ask? Well, you’re sitting at work when someone sends you an email that promises funny pictures, a joke or a viral video. You go ahead and click, forgetting everything you learned in your company’s cyber awareness sessions …but your company may be tricking you into training.

For many, the negative outcomes of ineffective cyber security remain invisible until they hit close to home. A large number of breaches to security occur not just because of the efforts of hackers, but also because of the naïve practices of employees. Anyone can compromise their workplace’s security unintentionally if they aren’t careful. Fortunately, one company named PhishMe is using this as an opportunity to call us out on our bad habits.

This business basically sends fake spam emails to your employees in order to teach them a better approach to privacy (and reveal how easy it is to give up your info). One such campaign, reported in the Wall Street Journal, involved a promise of cute cat photos. You might be thinking “Oh, come on. I wouldn’t fall for that!” But the potential is out there, and it only takes one careless second. And PhishMe has seen the behaviors of millions corrected because of its services. It’s just one of a few companies taking part in an effort to help corporations step up their game by using the methods of hackers against us as a sort of practice ground.

Anticipating the activities of hackers can be as difficult as accurately predicting the weather, but there are measures that companies can take to help bulk up their capabilities. Consider the advantages of proper cyber security training before you – or someone you work with – falls for one of these for real.    

John Sileo is a cyber security training expert and keynote speaker on reputation, privacy and cyber data protection. His clients included the Department of Defense, Pfizer, and Homeland Security. See his recent media appearances on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper and Fox Business.