Earlier this year, the Government of Canada set a firm deadline. By March 31, 2025, every public servant, soldier, and contractor with network access must complete mandatory cybersecurity training and renew it annually. The message? Cybersecurity isn’t just IT’s job anymore, it’s everyone’s.
For businesses, the stakes are even higher. A single breach can freeze operations, drain revenue, and wipe out trust overnight. And unlike government departments, you can’t afford weeks of disruption while you recover.
That’s why forward-thinking teams are rethinking training; making it shorter, sharper, and impossible to ignore. Because in today’s threat landscape, the best defence is a workforce that’s well-equipped and always ready.
What Every Workforce Should be Training On
When it comes to cyber threats, job titles don’t matter. Your CFO can click the wrong link just as easily as a junior analyst. That’s why cybersecurity training isn’t just “for the tech team”, it’s for everyone.
Here’s what every workforce should be learning, across every role, to keep the business running and the bad actors out:
1. Strong Password Practices & Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Passwords are the keys to your company’s front door, and too many of us are still leaving them under the doormat.
A proper training session on this shouldn’t just say “make complex passwords.” It should show employees why weak passwords fail:
- Demonstrate how quickly “Password123” can be cracked using free tools.
- Show how password reuse across work and personal accounts can cause a chain reaction of breaches.
- Walk through how to use a password manager so people aren’t tempted to take shortcuts.
And then there’s MFA, the second lock on the door. Training should show how MFA works, why it matters, and the difference between SMS codes, authenticator apps, and hardware tokens. Every employee should leave with MFA enabled on every work account, no excuses.
2. Device & Mobile Security (BYOD Policies)
Every phone, laptop, or tablet with company access is a potential entry point for attackers. And in many workplaces, employees use their own devices (BYOD = Bring Your Own Device).
Effective training should:
- Explain exactly what your BYOD policy allows and forbids.
- Cover what to do immediately if a device is lost or stolen reporting quickly could save the company from a massive breach.
- Walk through settings for device encryption, automatic locking, and secure backups.
This isn’t about “IT rules” it’s about protecting the little computers we carry in our pockets all day.
3. Phishing & Email Threats
The average phishing email isn’t a sloppy, badly written scam anymore, it can look exactly like a message from your bank, your CEO, or your favorite online store.
Training here should:
- Use real examples (with identifying info blurred) to show what modern phishing looks like.
- Teach employees to hover over links, check sender addresses carefully, and recognize urgent or threatening language.
- Include simulated phishing campaigns so employees practice spotting suspicious messages in a safe environment.
The goal is to make “pause and check” second nature no matter how convincing the email looks.
Which Security Awareness Training Vendors Offer Automated Compliance Reporting?
If you’re running security awareness programs, you already know the training itself is only half the battle. The other half? Proving it happened.
Regulators, auditors, and leadership all want the same thing: clear documentation showing who completed what training, when they did it, and whether they passed. Manually tracking this in spreadsheets is a recipe for gaps, version control nightmares, and last-minute scrambles before audits.
That’s why automated compliance reporting has become a deciding factor when choosing a security training vendor. The best platforms generate audit-ready exports on demand—no chasing down managers, no stitching together screenshots, no “I think they finished it?”
Here’s what to look for:
- Export formats that auditors actually accept. CSV and PDF are table stakes. If your vendor only offers dashboards with no export function, you’ll be taking screenshots during your next audit.
- Completion timestamps and pass/fail records. You need to prove not just that someone opened a module, but that they finished it and demonstrated competency.
- Role-based filtering. When auditors ask “show me compliance for everyone with access to customer PII,” you shouldn’t have to manually sort through 500 names.
- Real-time tracking, not batch updates. If someone completes training at 2pm and your system doesn’t reflect it until tomorrow’s sync, you’re operating blind.
Varsi handles this with built-in audit exports (CSV and PDF), real-time completion tracking, and role-based training paths that make filtering by team or access level straightforward. You can pull a compliance report in seconds, not hours.
The bottom line: if your current vendor makes proving compliance harder than delivering the training itself, it’s time to switch.
From Awareness to Action, Build a Security-Ready Workforce Today
The sooner your people start training, the sooner they become your strongest layer of defense.
Varsi turns disjointed, forgettable training into bite-sized, high-impact lessons your team can scale with.
✔️ Interactive Assessments – Create real-world attack response exercises that prepare employees to spot threats.
✔️ AI-powered course creation – Build tailored cybersecurity lessons in minutes, no technical expertise required.
✔️ Automated reminders & recertifications – Keep compliance on track without the chase.
✔️ Role-specific training paths – Make every lesson relevant, whether someone’s in sales, HR, or engineering.
✔️ Real-time analytics & audit trails – Instantly prove who’s trained, when, and on what.
Don’t wait for a breach to test your team’s readiness. Start testing now.
4. Safe Internet & Cloud Usage
We’ve all done it: connected to the “Free Airport Wi-Fi” without thinking twice. The problem? Unsecured networks make it easy for attackers to intercept your data.
A good training session should:
- Explain the risks of public Wi-Fi in plain language (yes, even “Starbucks Wi-Fi” can be dangerous).
- Teach employees how to use a VPN and why it’s not optional outside the office.
- Cover safe downloading habits, no random PDFs or “free” software from unverified sources.
- Clarify which cloud apps are approved for company use and how to log out securely.
The aim: build habits that keep company data safe no matter where people work from.
5. Remote Work Data Protocols
Remote work has changed the game, your employees’ home setups are now part of your network perimeter.
Training should:
- Show employees how to secure their home Wi-Fi (strong passwords, updated firmware, no default router settings).
- Explain why VPN use is mandatory outside secure office networks.
- Teach physical security — like never leaving devices unattended in cafés, hotels, or co-working spaces.
- Discuss risks of public charging stations (yes, “juice jacking” is real).
Because remote work security isn’t just digital, it’s physical too.
6. Social Engineering Awareness
Some of the most dangerous cyberattacks never involve hacking a system, they involve hacking a person.
This training should:
- Cover phishing but also baiting (leaving infected USB drives around), tailgating (slipping into a secure area behind someone), and pretexting (pretending to be a coworker, vendor, or IT staff to get info).
- Use role-playing exercises where employees have to decide whether to give information, let someone in, or click a link.
- Share real-world case studies where social engineering caused massive losses.
The goal? Make people comfortable saying “no” and verifying before they trust.
7. Handling of Sensitive Data
Not all information is created equal and mishandling the wrong file can cause legal, financial, and reputational damage.
Training should:
- Teach how to classify data (public, internal, confidential, restricted).
- Explain proper storage methods: encrypted drives, secure servers, approved cloud storage only.
- Emphasize transmission security -never emailing sensitive info unencrypted.
- Walk through your company’s exact data handling policy so employees know the rules and the “why” behind them.
Because sometimes the difference between safe and sorry is as simple as where a file gets saved.
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