Beyond Phishing Tests: 10 Underrated Training Strategies to Boost Security Awareness in the Financial Sector

Is your cybersecurity training just a formality, or is it truly fortifying your defenses? In the financial sector, where cyberattacks account for 18% of all incidents (Source) and the average data breach costs a staggering $5.85 million (Source), ineffective training isn’t just a gap—it’s a glaring vulnerability. Traditional approaches—stale, generic, and reduced to checkbox exercises—are failing to protect institutions facing sophisticated threats and strict regulatory demands.

While phishing tests are essential, they represent just one facet of a comprehensive security awareness program. To effectively mitigate risks, financial organizations must adopt a multifaceted approach to cybersecurity awareness training.

In this blog, we’ll delve into 10 often-overlooked yet impactful security awareness training strategies that can fortify your organization’s defenses beyond standard phishing simulations.

10 Methods for Improving Security Awareness Training in Financial Services

Beyond the standard phishing simulations, the following 10 methods offer innovative and impactful ways to elevate your security awareness training:

Method 1: Behavioral Analytics-Driven Learning Paths

Leveraging Adaptive Security Awareness Training to create personalized learning paths based on employee behaviors, such as frequent password reuse or weak authentication practices.

Why it works: It pinpoints specific vulnerabilities and delivers targeted educational interventions, effectively bridging knowledge gaps.

Example: You can identify employees consistently failing to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) and trigger relevant micro-training modules on MFA importance and best practices.

Check out our guide to learn how Adaptive Security Awareness Platforms can help you deploy hyper-personalized security training to your employees.

Method 2: Threat Intelligence Integration to Phishing Tests

Incorporating live, real-time threat intelligence data into security training programs to provide up-to-date information on current cybersecurity threats.

Why it works: Employees become more responsive and prepared for threats they are likely to encounter immediately.

Example: Organizations can successfully prepare their employees against a SWIFT network attack by embedding real-time threat data into phishing simulations, significantly enhancing preparedness.

Method 3: Role-Specific Cyber Crisis Scenarios

Developing customized training scenarios tailored to the unique cyber risks associated with different roles, such as executives, bank tellers, or IT staff.

Why it works: Recognizes that different roles have distinct cybersecurity challenges, thus making the training directly relevant.

Example: Create targeted ransomware scenarios specifically designed for executive-level decision-making exercises.

Read this article to learn more about why role-based cybersecurity awareness programs are important for behavior change.

Method 4: Gamified "Red Team vs. Blue Team" Challenges

Interactive training exercises where teams compete by either attacking or defending mock financial systems in simulated phishing campaigns.

• Why it works: Encourages teamwork, strategic thinking, and hands-on skill-building through engaging, competitive play.
• Example: Organize a gamified ledger-hacking tournament complete with leaderboards and incentives.

Visit our blog to discover more about gamification and its significance for security awareness.

Method 5: Psychological Nudges to Create Security Behaviors

Employing behavioral science techniques such as rewards, peer recognition, and social accountability to subtly encourage secure behaviors.

• Why it works: Nudges employees into adopting good security practices subconsciously, making secure actions second nature.
• Example: Implement a Slack bot that acknowledges and praises employees who regularly report suspicious emails.

Read this guide to learn Top Nudge Examples in Cybersecurity Awareness.

Method 6: Insider Threat "Pattern Recognition" Workshops

Workshops focused on training employees to recognize subtle indicators of potential insider threats, such as unusual data access patterns or behavioral anomalies.

• Why it works: Addresses the fact that 34% of breaches in finance are insider-related (Accenture), thus proactively mitigating internal risks.
• Example: Facilitate workshops analyzing anonymized real-world insider threat cases to improve recognition skills.

Check out our guide to learn strategies for enhancing insider threat awareness and protecting organizations from internal risks.

Method 7: Microlearning for Regulatory Updates

Short, focused modules delivering regulatory updates like GDPR, PCI DSS, or SOX in digestible formats.

• Why it works: Prevents overwhelming staff with complex compliance language, enhancing retention and understanding.
• Example: Launch a five-minute monthly video update series covering regulatory changes clearly and concisely.

Method 8: Cross-Department Incident Response War Games

Simulated breach exercises involving cross-departmental teams like IT, PR, legal, and customer service to practice coordinated incident response.

• Why it works: Reinforces teamwork, breaks down departmental silos, and ensures comprehensive preparedness during actual crises.
• Example: Simulate a customer data leak scenario, incorporating realistic customer service scripting practice to enhance front-line readiness.

Method 9: Outcome-Driven Metrics Beyond Completion Rates

Utilizing actionable metrics such as decreased phishing click rates, quicker anomaly reporting, and improved response times rather than merely tracking training completion rates.

• Why it works: Provides genuine insights into training effectiveness and real behavioral change story.
• Example: Set measurable goals like reporting anomalies within 10 minutes of occurrence to track tangible improvements.

Visit our blog to discover more about outcome-driven metrics and their significance.

Method 10: Post-Training "Zero-Day" Stress Tests

Conducting surprise drills using novel attack vectors such as deepfake calls impersonating executives or simulated ATM network compromises.

• Why it works: Assesses training retention and the team's adaptability to unforeseen threats, creating resilience under pressure.
• Example: Run an unannounced voice phishing attack simulation to test real-time responses.

Read our guide to learn how to start a voice phishing simulation to test and train your employees.

How Keepnet’s Human Risk Management Platform Enhances Security Awareness in the Finance Industry

While the ten strategies outlined above empower financial institutions to go beyond checkbox training, implementing them efficiently and cohesively requires the right platform. That’s where Keepnet’s Human Risk Management Platform comes in.

Keepnet offers a comprehensive, AI-enhanced ecosystem that addresses human risk across the entire cybersecurity lifecycle. From role-specific phishing simulations and real-time threat intelligence integration to insider threat detection workshops, the platform seamlessly delivers every training method discussed—while offering advanced behavioral analytics to continuously assess and reduce human-driven risks.

Key Benefits for Finance-Sector Security Teams:

• Hyper-Personalized Learning Paths: Powered by adaptive algorithms, Keepnet security awareness training targets users with content based on their role, behavior, and vulnerabilities—ensuring relevance and effectiveness.
• AI Powered Phishing Simulations: Go beyond email-based scenarios with voice (vishing), SMS (smishing), QR phishing, and even deepfake-based simulations to test employees under realistic pressure.
• Compliance and Regulatory Microlearning: Stay up-to-date with frameworks like PCI DSS, SOX, and GDPR using Keepnet’s bite-sized, high-retention learning content.
• Cross-Team Incident Response Drills: Easily organize and automate war games involving IT, legal, PR, and customer-facing departments.
• Outcome-Driven Metrics Dashboard: Go beyond completion rates. Keepnet provides live dashboards that track incident reporting speed, simulation outcomes, behavior change rates, and risk scores.

Tailored for Financial Institutions

Whether you’re safeguarding customer accounts, protecting SWIFT transactions, or securing internal communication, Keepnet equips you to train smarter, respond faster, and reduce risk across every role in your organization.