Creating Security Awareness Campaigns for Employees -

Creating security awareness campaign

Duration: 1 days / 6 hours
Delivery method: Online/ In-company training
Target Audience: This course is for internal security departments, that want to understand the tools that are available to create their own security campaign.
Cost: Available upon application
Language: English
Course code: CSAC1-O

Introduction

Creating a Security Awareness Campaign
This course covers key principles and strategies for building a security awareness campaign.
You’ll learn to identify critical security risks and communicate them effectively.
The course will teach you to engage employees with clear and compelling messages.
You’ll design interactive activities that encourage participation and understanding.
By the end, you’ll be able to implement an effective, organisation-wide security campaign.

Potential course benefits, the why

Cultivating a security culture

Internal campaigns foster a culture of security awareness within the organisation, where security is prioritised and integrated into daily operations, rather than viewed as an afterthought.

Risk reduction

By educating employees about security threats and best practices, internal awareness campaigns help mitigate the risk of security breaches, data leaks, and other incidents.

Improved security posture

Increased awareness among employees leads to better adherence to security policies and procedures, enhancing the overall security posture of the organisation.

Detection of suspicious activity

Educated employees are more likely to recognise suspicious behavior, such as phishing emails or unauthorised access attempts, and report them promptly, allowing for timely intervention and mitigation.

Protection of sensitive information

Awareness campaigns help employees recognize the value of sensitive information and understand their role in safeguarding it, reducing the likelihood of data breaches and leaks.

Cost savings

Proactive internal security awareness initiatives may result in cost savings by reducing the cost requirement for outside consultants and internal time to manage the contractual process.

Employee empowerment

Security awareness training empowers employees to take an active role in protecting themselves and the company against threats, boosting morale and job satisfaction.

Creating an effective security awareness campaign is essential for building a security-first culture across your organization. By attending this course, you will learn how to design, plan, and launch targeted campaigns that educate employees, influence behaviour, and reduce security risks. The course guides you through understanding your audience, crafting clear messages, choosing the right communication channels, and measuring campaign effectiveness.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to enhance an existing program, this course provides the tools and insights needed to make a real impact. By the end, you will be able to confidently lead initiatives that drive engagement, boost compliance, and foster a proactive security mindset throughout your organization. Equip yourself with the skills to turn security awareness from a checkbox exercise into a true business enabler.

A security awareness message draws attention to an issue, an informative message provides facts, a persuasive message encourages action, and an instructional message gives clear steps to follow.

Type	Purpose	Key feature
Awareness	Make people aware of an issue	Broad, attention-grabbing
Informative	Deliver factual information	Educational, explanatory
Persuasive	Change behaviour or beliefs	Motivational, benefit-driven
Instructional	Teach how to do something	Step-by-step guidance

illustrates the differences between awareness, informative, persuasive, and instructional

Brainstorming methods to generate campaign ideas

Mind mapping

Start with “Security Awareness” at the centre and branch out into themes (e.g., phishing, physical security, password safety).

SWOT analysis

Identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats for current awareness efforts.

Affinity diagrams

Group ideas and topics by theme to see patterns in awareness needs.

SCAMPER technique

Think about how to Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, or Reverse current campaign approaches.

Empathy mapping

Consider what employees think, feel, see, say, do regarding security topics.

5 Whys

Drill down into why certain security behaviours occur or fail.

Random word association

Use unrelated words to spark creative connections (e.g., “game,” “superhero,” “team”).

Role play

Step into the shoes of an employee or attacker to discover overlooked gaps.

Silent brainstorming

Have participants write ideas individually before group discussion to encourage unique contributions.

Example: “Priming” Through Awareness Campaigns (in 4 slides)

SWOT on designing and creating an internal security awareness campaigns

Strengths

Customization: Internal campaigns can be tailored to the specific needs and concerns of the organization, making them more relevant and effective.

Access: Organizations have direct access to employees, allowing for easy dissemination of information and training materials.

Control: Internal campaigns allow organizations to maintain control over the messaging and ensure consistency in communication.

Feedback: Organizations can gather feedback directly from employees to continually improve and refine the campaign.

Integration: Internal campaigns can be integrated into existing training programs and corporate culture, enhancing their impact

Weaknesses

Resistance: Employees may resist participating in security awareness activities if they perceive them as time-consuming or irrelevant to their job responsibilities.

Cost: Designing and implementing an effective internal campaign requires resources, including time, money, and expertise.

Complacency: Employees may become complacent or forgetful about security practices over time, requiring ongoing reinforcement.

Complexity: Security awareness topics can be complex, making it challenging to effectively communicate key concepts to employees with varying levels of technical expertise.

Measurement: It can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of internal security awareness campaigns and quantify their impact on reducing security incidents.

Opportunities

Training: Internal campaigns provide an opportunity to educate employees about emerging security threats and best practices for protecting sensitive information.

Engagement: Well-designed campaigns can increase employee engagement and foster a culture of security awareness within the organization.

Innovation: Organizations can leverage technology and creative approaches to deliver engaging and interactive security awareness content.

Collaboration: Internal campaigns can facilitate collaboration between different departments, such as IT, HR, and management, to address security challenges holistically.

Adaptation: Internal campaigns can be adapted to address specific security concerns or regulatory requirements facing the organization

Threats

Employee Turnover: High turnover rates can pose challenges for maintaining consistent security awareness across the organization.

Compliance Requirements: Failure to comply with industry regulations or legal requirements related to data protection can result in financial penalties and damage to the organization's reputation.

Lack of Leadership Support: Without strong support from senior leadership, internal security awareness campaigns may struggle to gain traction and resources within the organization.

Competing Priorities: Security awareness initiatives may compete for attention and resources with other organizational priorities, such as productivity and revenue generation.