Raising security awareness in any organisation is a long-term undertaking. Security procedures are often perceived as being an obstacle rather than a business enabler, and changing this view is challenging. We have guided numerous clients through successful awareness campaigns and have built up formidable experience of the processes involved in the smooth and effective launch of their Knowledge Zones.

Our security communications consultancy is tailored to your specific requirements. We work collaboratively with you to determine the most effective channels for communicating with your employees, combining online media, printed materials and face-to-face resources to ensure blended and flexible security awareness campaigns.

Where are we now?

In order to measure the success of the campaign it’s important to establish where your employees are now with regard to their levels of security awareness. We have a comprehensive online survey tool that can be developed to identify and measure strengths and weaknesses in your employees’ security knowledge. This can be used as the benchmark for assessing the success of your ongoing security awareness.

Defining Needs

A target audience assessment will provide you with a focus for the security awareness campaign from the earliest stage, asking questions like:

• What are the current security awareness levels amongst employees?
• Which channels do your employees find the most useful for obtaining security information at the moment?
• Where are the knowledge gaps?

You will find that the security needs of people across the organisation will differ depending on a number of factors, such as location, workstyle (office, mobile etc.), work role and responsibilities. Messages therefore will need to be tailored and targeted differently depending on the target audience.

Defining Strategy

Your security awareness strategy will incorporate your business goals and targets the higher-security-risk activities and roles in your organisation. Creating a long-term programme of themed communications ensures a rolling, fresh campaign.

Delivering the Message

• The written word: promoting the importance of information security and the existence of the Security Knowledge Zone, delivered via newsletters, online publications and email e.g. briefings, features on particular subjects or people, real life stories, facts and figures;
• Visual/promotional material: used to reinforce key messages e.g. videos, leaflets, calendars, posters, PC wallpapers/screensavers, merchandise (pens, post-it notes, mouse-mats, mugs etc.);
• Events: opportunities to present the face of security, obtain feedback and achieve buy-in e.g. ‘Coffee/Lunch With Your Security Team’ events;
• Incentives: to encourage your employees to learn about security e.g. all employees who complete the ‘teach and test’ will be entered into a prize draw.

Monitoring security awareness levels and adapting the security awareness campaign in response to these levels and to new developments is crucial. Our strategy includes:

• Management information: the Security Knowledge Zone will provide important statistics, including site page hits and ‘teach and test’ results, to provide guidance on key messages to emphasise in the awareness campaign;
• (Repeat) surveys: a useful benchmarking exercise to check progress;
• Changes to the security environment: changes to policy, security incidents or breaches, industry relevant news and world events are incorporated into the awareness campaign.

The Importance of the Internal Communications Team

We will work closely with your internal communications and security awareness teams to make the most effective use of your existing online, paper-based and face-to-face communications channels.

Our project-managed, individual approach means that our security communications work can seamlessly become a part of clients’ wider compliance- and HR-awareness strategies.