Learn to Train Employees on Cyber at Symantec’s Gov Symposium

Government agencies are more aware than ever about the need to protect their technological infrastructure and data from malicious cyberattacks and accidental exposure. Unfortunately, winning the fight against hackers and their rapidly developing approaches to exploit holes in agency defenses will require more than awareness.

Governments need all hands on deck to battle back against cyberattacks and threats, but training new employees and identifying your agency’s strengths and weaknesses can be easier said than done. At this year’s Symantec Government Symposium, industry experts and experienced practitioners will all be on hand to teach best practices and share valuable resources to ease the training challenge.

On Aug. 30, more than 1,000 cyber experts will meet at the 13th annual conference to discuss this year’s theme, “Actionable Intelligence: Stay Smart. Stay Secure.”

In addition to keynote and tech sessions about cyber safety, the symposium will feature an Employee Cyber Readiness breakout track specially designed to teach attendees how to prepare their teams to defend against varied threats. Sessions will include actionable advice regarding defense methods for all levels of experience at government agencies.

Training a strong team to defend against cyberattacks is tough, especially because it can be challenging to provide a safe space to practice the necessary skills. The first breakout session, entitled “Get Smart — Scenario Based Cyber Training,” will center on how to build and manage the right cyber team. Led by Michael Allen, Chief Information Security Officer at Morningstar, and experts from Symantec’s Cyber Skills Development team, the presentation will share how to identify your agency’s top talent and put their skills to use through scenario-based training that mimics real cyberattacks.

A strong, coordinated response to threats requires more than a prepared and devoted team. Given that personalized attacks, such as phishing, have become increasingly common in recent years, it is important that strong defenses are incorporated at every level in your agency. One popular approach has been to incorporate phishing assessments into agency cyber awareness programs to test how employees respond. But it isn’t always clear how those efforts translate into better overall security.

At the symposium, breakout session “Phishing for Impact — Maximizing Security Awareness,” will help attendees adopt new strategies to demonstrate the return on investment in phishing assessments. Symantec’s experts will also help agencies to better articulate how their security assessments are contributing to their general security strategy to make their awareness and training programs even more effective.

The Employee Cyber Readiness track is one of four at this year’s Symantec Government Symposium. For more information on the symposium, and on the other four breakout tracks, read more here.

Want to know more about how you and your team can prepare for cyberattacks? Don’t miss your chance to learn strategies to improve your agency’s critical defenses. Register here.