An increase in the attack surface is the downside of having a remote workforce. As hundreds of thousands of employees access proprietary systems from outside the safety of the office firewall, ransomware and phishing scams have become both more frequent and more sophisticated.

Contributing to the problem is the lack of cybersecurity awareness at all levels. And when one misjudged click can cost millions, training is top priority for everyone from chief executives to cats.

“At the beginning of COVID, we made all of our training free to the public in general,” said Sandra Wheatley (pictured), senior vice president of marketing, threat intelligence and influencer communications at Fortinet Inc.

Wheatley spoke with Jeff Frick, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, for a digital CUBE Conversation on the urgent need for cybersecurity training. (* Disclosure below.)

Careless clicks can cost lives

Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world and one of the most costly. Business losses due to attacks are predicted to reach $6 trillion a year by 2021, doubling 2015’s total of $3 trillion. And it’s not just money at stake; cyberattacks have exposed sensitive records, impacted healthcare, and even lead to death.

“We’ve seen a big uptick in attacks from cyber criminals targeting remote workers [because] it’s a way into the enterprise network,” Wheatley said.

Fortinet research showed that 68% of intrusions happened as a result of careless mistakes by employees. In an effort to combat these statistics, Fortinet has opened up its training catalog for free. As well as helping combat the threat of the expanding attack surface, it was a way for Fortinet to give back to its community.

“We really wanted to help our customers during this time,” Wheatley said.

Over 500,000 people have received certifications from the Fortinet NSE Training Institute. And half of those have been in 2020, which shows the demand for cybersecurity training. The program offers eight different modules at levels for everyone from remote employees to informational technology professionals.

“At the very basic level all organizations should be leveraging those modules for their employees,” Wheatley said. “We all have a responsibility to be much more educated and aware.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations. Then click here to start Fortinet’s free cybersecurity training. (* Disclosure: Fortinet Inc. sponsored this CUBE Conversation. Neither Fortinet nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE