In April 2025, retail giant M&S suffered a significant data breach that exposed thousands of customers’ personal information. You’ve probably seen it making headlines, but what you might not know is that the attack didn’t begin with sophisticated hackers breaking through state-of-the-art firewalls or exploiting complex system vulnerabilities.
Instead, it started with something much simpler: a human cyber security slipup. The ransomware originated from a social engineering attack launched months prior, where cyber-criminals impersonated an M&S employee and tricked a third party (allegedly the company’s IT contractor) into resetting a password.
For HR leaders, operations managers, and IT teams in Reading, this case is a shining example of why staff training budgets need to include comprehensive cyber security awareness programmes alongside traditional defences – because even the most advanced technical security measures can be rendered useless by one moment of human error.
Your Biggest Risk or Your Greatest Opportunity? Why Your Team Is Both
Your employees interact with potential cyber threats every single day. They receive emails, download files, access cloud applications, and make countless digital decisions that could either protect your business or inadvertently compromise it.
The most frequent security incidents don’t stem from criminal masterminds but from everyday mistakes. Staff members might:
- Use weak passwords across multiple accounts
- Leave sensitive documents visible on their desks
- Connect personal devices to company networks without considering the risks
- Install unauthorised software to make their jobs easier
- Share login credentials with colleagues to speed up workflows
These behaviours typically aren’t malicious. They’re often attempts to be more productive or helpful. However, they create entry points that attackers actively seek to exploit.
The Growing Sophistication of Social Engineering
Modern cyber criminals have moved far beyond generic scam emails. Today’s social engineering attacks are carefully researched and personalised. Attackers study your company’s website, social media presence, and public information to craft convincing messages that reference real projects, colleagues, or business processes.
They might impersonate your CEO, requesting an urgent financial transfer, pose as a trusted supplier asking for updated payment details, or create fake scenarios that trigger your team’s natural desire to be helpful. These attacks succeed because they exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities.
What Effective Human Cyber Security Actually Involves
Successful awareness programmes do not boil down to annual compliance sessions or generic online modules. Effective staff phishing education for businesses requires ongoing, interactive approaches that make cyber security highly relevant to your team’s daily work.
Interactive Workshops and Real-World Scenarios
Think back to when you learnt to drive. Was it studying all the theory that gave you confidence on the road? Or was it actually putting what your instructor had told you into practice behind the wheel?
The same idea applies to Reading cyber security training. Rather than lecture-style presentations, effective training uses workshops where staff can practice identifying threats in realistic scenarios. These sessions might involve:
- Analysing actual phishing emails (with identifying information removed)
- Discussing recent local business breaches
- Working through response procedures for common situations
Interactive formats help staff understand not just what to avoid, but why certain behaviours create risks and how their actions contribute to overall business security.
“What If Some of Our Staff Work Remotely?”
Research published in Behaviour & Information Technology shows that blended learning approaches (combining face-to-face sessions with online resources) produce better learning outcomes than purely digital training.
For businesses with remote or hybrid employees, this might mean your best approach is to conduct initial cyber security awareness training sessions on-site, followed by regular online updates and resources.
Phishing Simulations and Practical Testing
Regular phishing simulations provide safe environments for staff to practice threat recognition. These controlled exercises send realistic but harmless test emails to employees, tracking who clicks suspicious links or provides sensitive information.
Instead of using simulation results to penalise staff, effective programmes treat them as learning opportunities. Employees who fall for simulated attacks receive immediate, constructive feedback and additional training resources.
Regular Refreshers and Updates
Cyber threats evolve constantly, which means awareness training must be ongoing rather than a one-time event. The best staff phishing education for businesses will include regular updates about new attack methods, refresher sessions for key concepts, and timely alerts about current threats targeting companies in your sector.
How Non-Technical Communication Makes Cyber Security Awareness Training in Reading More Effective
In our experience, local businesses benefit from training approaches that acknowledge the practical realities of local work environments. Most of the organisations we work with operate with mixed technical capabilities across their teams. As a result, they benefit most from awareness programmes that communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical staff.
EAC’s awareness training avoids technical jargon in favour of clear, practical guidance. Rather than explaining how malware works at a technical level, we focus on helping staff recognise suspicious behaviour and understand appropriate response procedures.
This approach ensures that everyone, from administrative staff to senior executives, can engage meaningfully with the training content.
Staff Phishing Education’s Real-Life Impact
The Princethorpe Foundation, a group of independent schools we’ve been working with since 2018, has undergone cyber security training alongside our technical security measures. We made it a priority to introduce regular staff workshops, simulated phishing exercises, and clear incident reporting procedures—undeniably important for people handling student (and parent) data on a daily basis.
The three schools have found that combining awareness training with technical controls created a more robust security environment, helping staff become more confident in recognising and responding to potential threats.
Learn more about our client projects here.
Let’s Strengthen Your Defence Strategy
Technology alone can’t protect your Reading business from the human cyber security mistakes your team are making every single day. While firewalls, antivirus software, and other technical measures form essential parts of your security infrastructure, they’re only as strong as the people who use them.
Effective cyber security means empowering employees with the knowledge and skills to recognise threats, make informed decisions, and respond appropriately when suspicious activity occurs. This often provides the strongest defence against social engineering attacks that increasingly bypass technical controls.
Ready to Test Your Team’s Readiness?
Discover how your staff would respond to real-world phishing attempts with a simulation trial designed specifically for your business. Request yours now.
