Many companies start the new year with ambitious goals in mind, so they ramp up hiring in the 1st quarter to help fulfill their objectives. HR will do the recruiting and then oversee orientation and compliance training on a variety of topics to help the new hires settle in, including cybersecurity awareness education. But despite these efforts, employees remain the weakest link in cybersecurity defense.

That’s a problem because the cost of a data breach is staggering—in 2017, the average cost was $3.6 million worldwide, and a 2018 study found that employee negligence was the primary culprit in data breaches. A Dell end-user security survey underscored the scope of the challenge, finding that although most employees receive cybersecurity training, 72% are willing to share confidential information.