Top Challenges with Traditional Security Awareness Programs (and How to Fix Them)

11/06/2025
News
Top Challenges with Traditional Security Awareness Programs

Awareness Isn’t the Same as Behavior

Here’s the truth: people don’t fail security awareness training because they don’t know better. They fail because they don’t apply it at the moment.

One of our own team members saw this firsthand. He forwarded a phishing email to his parents with a note to “watch out for emails like this.” His mom misread the warning and thought the phishing message itself was real. She even saved the fake number into her phone.

This is the knowledge vs. behavior gap.

And it’s not rare. In 2025, 95% of data breaches involved human error (SC Media). Employees might recognize a threat in theory, but when the pressure is on, mistakes still happen. Awareness without behavior change is just checking a box.

The Biggest Pitfalls of Traditional Awareness Programs

Let’s be honest. Most awareness programs are designed for compliance, not resilience. Here’s what we see again and again.

  • One-size-fits-all content that doesn’t match real world roles.
  • Annual cadence. A single training video once a year.
  • As our CEO, Eric Kong, puts it, “Most companies treat security awareness like a checkbox. They roll out an annual video and consider the job done. But by lunch the next day, most employees have already forgotten what they learned.”
  • The numbers back it up. In 2025, 68% of incidents involved the human element (Bright Defense).
  • Compliance-first mindset. Training for auditors, not attackers.
  • Low engagement. Long, boring modules employees click through to finish.
  • Outdated content. Threats evolve faster than annual updates.
  • Administrative burden. IT teams juggling content, reminders, and reporting.

And here’s the hidden cost nobody talks about. Outdated training wastes your IT staff’s time. We’ve seen managers spend hours chasing down completion reports, resetting accounts, and nudging employees to finish modules. That’s time they should be spending on detection, response, or strategy.

If any of this sounds familiar, your program probably isn’t reducing risk.

Why Training Doesn’t Stick. The Science of Learning

Even the best one-time training fails because people forget. The “forgetting curve” shows most of us lose 80% of new information within weeks if it’s not reinforced.

Fresh research proves it. In 2025, a Cornell study tested a phishing-awareness game against traditional training. Employees who used the game had a 24% increase in awareness and a 30% boost in confidence compared to those in static training (arXiv, 2025).

The lesson is simple here. Repetition and engagement matter.

Or as Eric Kong puts it, “Repetition builds memory. Just like practicing a sport or learning an instrument, cybersecurity awareness requires constant reminders to become second nature.”

A quick note on how the brain works. Psychologists talk about two systems of thinking. “System 1” is fast and automatic. Like when you hit “approve” on an MFA prompt without thinking. “System 2” is slower and deliberate. Traditional training mostly talks to System 2. But most breaches happen when people are in System 1 autopilot. That’s why repetition and real world practice are so critical.

Barriers You Can’t Train Away with Old Models

Why else do traditional programs fail?

  • Culture. Many employees see training as a chore, not a daily habit.
  • Executive pushback. Leaders worry frequent training will waste time. Eric’s take… “Some leaders worry that weekly or monthly training will disrupt productivity. The reality is the opposite. Infrequent training leaves employees unprepared, and the cost of a single breach dwarfs the time invested in ongoing awareness.”
  • Information overload. Cramming too much into annual sessions.
  • Role irrelevance. Generic training examples that don’t match an employee’s real job.

Without fixing these barriers, awareness programs remain fragile.

The Threats Have Outpaced the Training

Here’s the other problem. Attackers don’t wait for your annual update.

Phishing is still the top attack vector, but it’s no longer just email. Smishing (SMS scams), vishing (voice phishing), MFA fatigue attacks, and AI-generated lures are now common.

The numbers are stark. 53% of breaches in 2025 involved compromised credentials (Bright Defense). That’s the path of least resistance, tricking someone into handing over access.

And the threats keep shifting:

  • AI-written phishing emails that mimic the style of your actual colleagues.
  • Deepfake voicemail scams targeting finance or HR to approve fake transfers.
  • Vishing attacks surged 442% in 2024, showing attackers are finding new channels.
  • MFA fatigue campaigns that wear employees down until they approve.

If training doesn’t adapt as fast as the attackers, your employees are blind to what’s really coming at them.

What Effective Awareness Training Looks Like

So what actually works in 2025?

  • Continuous cadence. Training monthly at minimum, ideally weekly or biweekly microlearning sessions.
  • Phishing simulations. Test employees with real world scenarios.
  • Role based content. HR needs different examples than finance or executives.
  • Metrics that matter. Measure behavior change, not just completion.

Here’s a simple framework for metrics that actually show progress:

  1. Click rate on simulated phishing emails.
  2. Report rate - how many employees actively report suspicious messages.
  3. Credential resets triggered by weak password habits.
  4. Time to detect - how quickly suspicious activity is escalated.

And let’s not forget cost. In 2024, the average cost of a data breach hit $4.9 million (Huntress). Compare that to the cost of a regular micro training program.

Eric Kong sums it up well.  “The ROI of security awareness isn’t in checking a compliance box, it’s in preventing the breach that never happens.”

Checklist: Is Your Security Awareness Program Outdated?

  • Do you train employees at least monthly?
  • Do you run phishing simulations to test real behavior?
  • Are your leaders modeling secure habits?
  • Is your content updated with today’s threats?
  • Do you measure resilience instead of just completion?

If you answered “no” to most of these, your program is probably more compliance theater than security.

Final Takeaway for SMB Leaders

Annual awareness training doesn’t cut it anymore. It never really did.

Employees forget, threats evolve, and compliance doesn’t equal security. The companies that actually reduce human risk are the ones that invest in continuous, behavior driven training.

Repetition. Relevance. Real world testing. That’s the formula for building resilience.

If your awareness program looks the same as it did three years ago, it’s already outdated. Attackers are innovating every month. Your training should too.

Want to see what effective training looks like in practice? Learn more about Consilien’s top rated security awareness program and how we help SMBs build resilience, not just check a box. Get in touch. 

Final Takeaway for SMB Leaders

FAQs: Rethinking Security Awareness in 2025

1. Why do traditional security awareness programs fail?

Most fail because they focus on awareness, not behavior. Employees may understand security risks but still make mistakes under pressure. Annual, one-size-fits-all training doesn’t build the habits that prevent real breaches.

2. Isn’t annual training enough for compliance?

It may satisfy auditors, but it doesn’t reduce risk. Cyber threats evolve monthly, not yearly. A single annual video can’t prepare employees to recognize new phishing tactics, deepfakes, or MFA fatigue attacks.

3. What’s the difference between awareness and behavior?

Awareness means knowing what’s risky. Behavior means making the right choice automatically when it counts. People forget up to 80% of what they learn within weeks without reinforcement, which is why repetition and practice are essential.

4. What are the most common pitfalls of traditional programs?

  • Generic content that ignores job roles
  • Annual training cycles that fade from memory
  • Low engagement and outdated materials
  • Heavy administrative workload for IT teams
  • Compliance-first mindset focused on checking boxes, not building resilience

5. How do attackers exploit gaps in outdated training?

Attackers use new channels and AI tools to bypass static defenses—things like:

  • AI-written phishing emails that mimic real coworkers
  • Deepfake voicemails tricking finance teams
  • MFA fatigue attacks that pressure users to approve logins
  • Smishing and vishing scams that bypass email filters

Without up-to-date, scenario-based training, employees don’t recognize these evolving threats.

6. What does an effective awareness program look like today?

Modern programs focus on continuous learning and measurable behavior change:

  • Short, engaging micro-trainings (weekly or biweekly)
  • Realistic phishing simulations
  • Role-based content tailored to specific departments
  • Metrics like reporting rate, detection speed, and reduced click rate

Sources & Research References

Human Risk / Breach Attribution

Cost of Breaches

Learning / Training Effectiveness

Phishing-awareness game study (2025): 24% increase in awareness and 30% increase in confidence compared to traditional training
 Source: arXiv (Cornell-related research)
🔗https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.12077