Just 41% of professionals in Pakistan received training on digital threats, reveals a Kaspersky survey.
Findings from the Kaspersky survey “Cybersecurity in the workplace: Employee knowledge and behaviour” urged IT departments to provide clear guidance.
The survey findings have suggested the organisations to implement structured, practical cybersecurity training that reaches employees at every level.
Many recent cyberattacks have bypassed digital defences by exploiting human psychology. 68.5% of surveyed professionals encountered scams disguised as messages from their organisation, colleagues or suppliers within the past year. While 40% suffered negative consequences after such deceptive communication.
Other cybersecurity issues closely linked to the human factor include compromised passwords. And the leakage of sensitive data, unpatched IT systems and applications. And unlocked and unencrypted devices.
Appropriate education and awareness can help preventing human-related cyberattacks. 51.5% of respondents acknowledged they made IT-related mistakes due to a lack of cybersecurity knowledge.
At the same time, training was named as the most effective means of raising cybersecurity awareness among non-IT employees: 32% of professionals chose it over other options, such as threat stories (32%) and references to legal responsibility (36%). These findings show that cybersecurity training is an essential layer of organisational defence.
Mobile Device Security:
When allowed to choose specific training topics, 36% respondents prioritized mobile device security, security of accounts and passwords (34.8%), protecting confidential work data (31.3%), e-mail security (31.3%), website and internet security (30.8%), safe use of social networks and messengers (27.3%), secure remote work (25.8%), and the safe use of neural network–based services such as chatbots (25.5%).
While 19.8% of respondents said they would prefer to undergo all the above trainings, this highlights a broad demand for comprehensive cybersecurity education.
When organisations invest in such education, they are not just meeting a requirement, but also fostering a “security-first” mindset among the workforce.
“Cybersecurity can’t live solely within the IT department. Everyone, from executives to new hires, needs a clear grasp of digital risks. A truly resilient organisation is built by equipping every employee with the skills to recognise scams, prevent costly errors, and safeguard company data,” stated Rashed Al Momani, General Manager for the Middle East and Pakistan at Kaspersky.
To strengthen their defences, organisations should consider implementing robust monitoring and cybersecurity solutions, for example, from the Kaspersky Next product line. Introduce employee education and cybersecurity trainings, such as Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform, developed to help IT and HR departments deliver practical cybersecurity skills to employees.
Encourage employees to report suspicious activity, and reward proactive security behaviours to reinforce good habits.
