It's pretty simple, really. Done correctly, security awareness training is an ongoing educational...
The Human Factor: Why Prevention Cannot Depend on Perfect People
It's so easy.
A believable invoice. A voicemail that sounds like the CEO. A fake sign-in page that looks exactly like a trusted application. Most cyberattacks do not begin with a dramatic movie-style hack; they begin with an ordinary workday moment when someone is busy and distracted.
Employees don't click or respond without thinking; the bad actors are simply good, and with the help of AI, it's nearly impossible to separate real from fake in many cases.
There is a reason that nearly all hacks start with human error—research by Verizon shows 62% involve humans—but it's a mistake to treat employees as the security problem.
Key Takeaways
- Phishing succeeds because attackers exploit urgency and distraction—not because employees do not care about security.
- Security awareness training should be reinforced by MFA, access controls, verification procedures, and simple reporting processes that encourage employee engagement.
- Organizations should train employees not only to recognize attack incidents but to report them immediately so containment and recovery can begin quickly.
Rather than blaming employees, invest in them as your first line of defense. Research from multiple sources show that phishing susceptibility drops by as much as 79% after one year of security awareness training. That's a significant impact when you compare it to the percentage of breaches that start with that unsuspecting click.
Well-prepared organizations know their team is busy, attackers are persuasive, and safeguards must be taught. And that's where training becomes the bedrock for not just cybersecurity efforts, but our business resilience stance.
Why Phishing Still Works (and Probably Always Will)
Why is phishing so often the focus of training and research? Well, phishing—fraudulent email messages designed to get someone on your team to share information, approve a payment, sign in through a fake page, or open a malicious attachment—is a bad actor favorite. It has been a massive thorn in the side of small businesses for years and shows no signs of easing up. In fact, in the first quarter of this year alone, nearly 1 million phishing attacks were observed, an increase of 13.8% quarter over quarter, and phishing is the #1 most-reported crime in 2025, according to the FBI.
Phishing succeeds for all the reasons above and has become even more effective with the aid of AI, with research showing AI usage in more than 80% of the phishing attacks analyzed by vendors.
What does phishing look like? These attacks rely on mimicry, often pretending to be:
- An urgent vendor payment request
- A password expiration notice
- A calendar invitation or document-share notification
- A message appearing to come from a senior leader
Sneaky and often nearly perfect, phishing emails wrap common requests in urgency and do their best to catch unsuspecting employees during busy times, preying on today's fast-moving and distracted workforce. All these factors make phishing prevention in small businesses a top priority for organizational leadership.
The Second Favorite: Ransomware is More Than Locked Files
Vying for second place is ransomware, malicious software that can encrypt data, disrupt systems, and sometimes steal sensitive information, often disguised as seemingly harmless links or downloads in those phishing emails that are so successful at luring in workers. Ransomware is especially successful with small businesses, reported as part of nearly 90% of data breaches in SMBs last year, according to research from Verizon.
Ransomware is particularly hard on businesses since it often locks organizations out of their own systems, holding operations and data for ransom. Imagine what would happen to your organization if your employees couldn't work, your production systems were down, databases were unreachable, and even your ability to communicate with your team and your clients was lost. There is a very tangible reason that many small businesses that suffer a ransomware attack never open their doors again; let's not fall victim to that!
While you may not be able to fully control a ransomware attack, you can be prepared in case it happens to your business by making sure your team is as educated and prepared as possible. Because ransomware is the second most likely way your small business will come under attack, ransomware prevention needs to be a high priority in your security awareness initiatives.
The Human Factor is not an Employee Failure
Let's be clear: that "human factor" cybersecurity statistic doesn't mean your team doesn't care. It means that organizations often overlook the critical nature of educating and engaging their entire workforce in cybersecurity preparedness. Yes, building a security culture starts with leadership and takes investment and wise decisions from the executive layer, but every member of your team needs to feel empowered and responsible for success.
If you're not sure you want to invest in building a security-forward culture, consider this: According to the 2025 ConnectWise State of SMB Security report, 94% of SMBs have experienced at least one cyberattack in the last year, and 78% fear a severe attack could put them out of business. The odds are definitely against small businesses, which is why it's important to create an environment that puts security on everyone's radar.
What that looks like is:
- Ongoing, relevant security awareness training for every employee
- Easy ways to report suspicious messages
- Multifactor authentication on every single application to stop account compromise even when credentials are exposed
- Email filtering and web protections
- Clear approval workflows for payments, banking changes, and sensitive requests that include pre-approval for taking the time to double-check authorizations
- Access controls that limit the damage if an account is compromised
You have heard us say this over and over. No single cybersecurity tool will stop security attacks. Instead, the goal is to ensure one missed warning sign or mistake does not become a full business outage that wreaks havoc for weeks or even months.
Don't Overlook One Simple Step: Permit Employees to Slow Down
In the list above, you may have read over this: Pre-approval for taking the time to double-check authorizations. In today's workplace, the emphasis is often on faster and more. That push to constantly answer emails quickly, make decisions fast, and move with urgency every single day provides an excellent opportunity for bad actors. Moving quickly can lead to missed details, and cyberattacks depend on that. Slowing down to check reply-to addresses on emails, to copy and paste a URL to confirm it's secure, to verify an ask from a third-party vendor—those small steps can mean the difference between stopping a sneak attack and opening the door to one.
From your leadership down, give your team permission to pause and explore. Rewarding good judgment and asking questions can help prevent phishing and ransomware in small businesses. We encourage our clients to build security policies that actually ask employees to seek confirmation through a known phone number or a separate communication channel for high-risk requests. We want your team to ask questions rather than make assumptions. Wouldn't you rather see your team report dozens of safe emails than miss one with ill intent? The most prepared businesses make reporting suspicious emails, texts, or calls simple and never punitive.
Prepared Businesses Train Employees on Next Steps
When the worst happens and a compromise has occurred, the actions of your employees are just as important as when you are trying to prevent an attack. Don't stop your security awareness training at "avoid these things." Continue beyond that and explore the right actions to take when and if a bad actor slips through your defenses. Your team should know:
- How to report the issue immediately
- Who is responsible for containing the account, device, or access point
- Steps to investigate what happened and identify what data or systems may be affected
- How to reset credentials and close any identified gaps
- Who is responsible for communicating with your team and customers
- Steps for recovery, according to the organization's incident response plan
Stress that speed matters when an attack happens, which is why employees need to know exactly who to contact and what to do.
Security Prevention is an Ongoing Practice
Yes, training requires an investment. But statistics consistently reveal a rising cost of breaches, even for small businesses, with many suffering losses starting at $250,000 and quickly spiraling into the millions. Taking a few simple preventative steps and spending a fraction of that cost to train your team should be an easy decision. What you need to prepare for is:
- Ongoing security awareness training that is current, practical, and reinforced over time.
- Policies must match how people actually work, including remote work, mobile devices, vendor relationships, and cloud applications
- Periodic Business Reviews with your MSP as a useful checkpoint for discussing new business risks, changing workflows, and recurring security pattern
Not sure where you stand? Start with our preparedness quiz, explore our cybersecurity guide, or schedule a meeting to talk to one of our consultants.
