Security Awareness Training: The Human Foundation of Compliance

Selling MSP compliance services inevitably leads to discussions about training. Though your client’s interest in security training probably doesn’t extend beyond their regulatory requirements, MSPs know that technology alone can't secure data.

Compliance is driven by people, and employee training is the foundation on which good compliance is built. This post explores the human element of compliance and shows you how to start building a training program that mitigates risk.

Revisiting Regulatory Requirements

For MSPs selling compliance services, security awareness training should be a familiar concept.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires healthcare entities to educate their workforce on security risks and their responsibilities in protecting Protected Health Information (PHI).
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implicitly requires staff awareness of data handling principles.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) mandates comprehensive and regular training for all personnel, including management and new hires.
ISO 27001 requires education, training, and regular updates of information security policy for all personnel and relevant parties.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) refers to employee training and awareness as part of risk management and incident response.
Center for Internet Security (CIS) Control 14 stresses that employees must be aware of security risks and trained to recognize, report, and respond to potential threats.

The common thread across these frameworks? The acknowledgment that technology alone doesn’t keep an organization safe. The untrained and uninformed human element is the weakest link in any security chain.

The Unavoidable Human Element

You deploy various security technologies for your clients. Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, endpoint protection, and advanced threat intelligence are undeniably essential layers of defense. What they can’t do is account for human judgment, curiosity, or distraction.

What happens when an employee unknowingly clicks on a malicious link, falls for a convincing phishing scam, or shares sensitive information through an unsecure channel? Suddenly, even your best technological defenses can be bypassed.

And if you think that most employees are too savvy to fall for a scam that leads to a breach, the numbers don’t lie:

The IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report found that human error accounted for approximately 24% of global average data breaches in 2024.
The 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that roughly 60% of all breaches involve a human action, including everything from accidental clicks to social engineering.
Infosecurity Magazine reports that human error, such as credential misuse and insider threats, contributed to 95% of data breaches in 2024.
A widely cited academic study by Stanford University indicated that 88% of data breaches are the result of an employee mistake.

These figures reveal why we’re seeing more and more frameworks mandate security awareness training. Without employee buy-in, regulations and their prescribed controls are easily undermined. Security awareness training is a way to transform employees from potential weak links into the first line of defense.

People-Driven Compliance

All of the above brings us back to something you hear us preach time and time again: compliance cannot be automated. The role of human judgment, intent, and adaptability can’t be replicated by scripts or AI.

Automated tools can’t discern the “why” behind compliance rules or interpret nuanced risk patterns. This is because scripts follow rigid rules and lack intuition. They can’t grasp business logic, understand the true purpose behind regulations, or react to unpredictable external factors like vendor updates or client changes.

Compliance is a people-driven process, and security awareness training is at the heart of that fundamental truth. It ensures that the people working with sensitive data and within protected systems are aware of their role in maintaining security. Employees are how an organization turns static controls into living security practices.

Keys to an Effective Program

Effective security awareness training is much more than an annual presentation. According to leading regulatory and security frameworks, the following elements should be considered.

Ongoing engagement

Security threats constantly change and adapt, and an effective security awareness program evolves with those threats. Up-to-date and continuous reinforcement keeps security at the top of employees' minds and relevant to current threats.

Relatable content

Dry, generic training modules are rarely effective. Training should be engaging, interactive, and relatable. Increase comprehension and retention by making content relevant to employees' daily tasks and the specific threats they face.

Role-based programs

Not all employees face the same risks or handle the same types of data. Tailor training to specific job roles and responsibilities to maximize its impact.

Accessible policies

Reinforce training with clear, accessible, and up-to-date security policies and procedures. Platforms like Compliance Scorecard centralize and simplify policy management, so employees can easily find and review the guidelines they’re being trained on.

Cultural reinforcement

Fostering a strong security culture requires consistent communication. Regular reminders, internal campaigns, and leadership buy-in ensure that security is a continuous conversation, not just a periodic event.

Offer More than Compliance with Security Awareness Training

Security awareness training checks the regulatory boxes, of course, but it’s also a key component of reducing your clients' risk. A well-trained workforce is less likely to fall victim to attacks and more likely to report suspicious activity. For your MSP, this means fewer security incidents to manage and a stronger track record as a reliable compliance partner.

Compliance Scorecard streamlines the entire compliance process, including integration with security awareness training tools. We help you manage and communicate policies and procedures, get the right people to sign off, and stay updated as threats evolve. Ready to enhance your Compliance as a Service offering? Join us for a free live demo to see how it works.