Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated, and automated cybersecurity solutions, today launched InfoSec Awareness, a free information security training and awareness service for any organisation, private or public, interested in educating its employees on the growing risks of cyberattacks.

Upon enrolling in the programme, companies will have access to a comprehensive training package, including videos, assessments, certifications, internal dissemination materials on the importance of cybersecurity, awareness infographics, and a statistics dashboard to monitor employee progress. There is no limit of registrations per company, so that this training can reach a considerable number of people.

The initiative is part of Fortinet’s global Network Security Expert (NSE) Training Institute. It aims to raise awareness to help combat cybercrime, especially ransomware, which increased sevenfold in the second half of 2020, according to FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s threat intelligence lab.

“Organisations must ensure that their employees know how to identify and protect themselves against all types of cybersecurity threats. From 2018 to 2020, the number of insider threats —those that are initiated by employees— increased by 47 per cent, according to a report from the Ponemon Institute,” said Rob Rashotte, vice president, global training and technical field enablement at Fortinet.

“These efforts are based on Fortinet’s ongoing commitment to raising awareness and protecting all people who use the Internet since 95 per cent of security breaches are due to human error or carelessness.”

The InfoSec Awareness course conveys cybersecurity basics and information on the most common threats —such as phishing emails and malicious links— the types of criminals, their tactics, and how to avoid falling for scams that could compromise the entire business.