If you want to keep your company safe from cyber threats, don’t assume it’s the job of just one team. Security awareness needs to be part of everyday business operations. A Verizon report emphasizes this, showing that 68% of data breaches are caused by human error.
So, how can you increase security knowledge? By building a Security Champions Program! Team members from all departments can become local security advocates, helping to spread awareness and promote best security practices throughout the company.
What is a Security Champions Program?
A Security Champions Program is all about getting more people involved in keeping your organization secure. Instead of relying only on the security team, it brings in volunteers from different teams, such as developers, engineers, or other staff, to act as security advocates.
These champions aren’t full-time security professionals, but they get extra training and tools to help their teams follow secure practices, catch risks early, and stay connected with the security team. Think of them as your team’s go-to person for all things security.
The idea is to make security everyone’s job, not just the security team’s. It’s a great scalable solution that builds a security-first mindset across your organization while reducing risks. Below is a step-by-step guide to creating a program.
Step 1: Prepare for a Security Champions Program
Preparation is the first step toward a successful Security Champions Program. Without proper guidelines, even the best intentions can fail. This step involves getting everyone on the same page, figuring out what resources you need, and making sure the whole organization understands why the program matters.
Start by identifying the problems the program will take on. Are security issues being caught too late in development? Is your security team too overloaded to offer help quickly? Understanding these challenges helps show why the program is important.
Tips On How to Prepare
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Ask questions like “What do you hope to achieve? Reduced vulnerabilities? Faster deployments? Wider security awareness?”
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Ensure leaders and managers understand why the program is needed, and they should also commit to supporting it.
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Decide who will lead the program, what budget you’ll need, and what tools or training are required.
Step 2: Identify Objectives and Scope
Now that you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to decide what your program will actually focus on and how you’ll measure its success. Everything needs to align with both your business goals and how your organization works.
Your goals might be challenging, but they should always be realistic. For example, you could try to reduce the number of security flaws introduced during development or get more developers to follow secure coding practices. Just remember, the key is to set goals that make sense for your team and are doable.
How To Set Goals
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Involve both business and IT leaders to identify pain points. For example, what processes slow teams down, and how can security champions help resolve them?
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Have clear objectives such as reducing vulnerabilities or improving secure coding practices.
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Think about running a pilot program within one department to see if it works before scaling up.
By having proper objectives, your champions can focus their efforts where they’ll make the most impact.
Step 3: Define Security Champion Responsibilities
Once you’ve set the program’s goals, the next step is to work out exactly what your security champions will do. They need to know what’s expected of them and what they’ll be doing on a day-to-day basis.
Security champions act as the link between their teams and the main security team. Their responsibilities can vary depending on business needs. Usually, they involve spreading awareness of security best practices, helping reduce vulnerabilities, and being the main contact for their teammates.
Main elements of the role
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Tasks can range from helping teams with secure design and coding practices to acting as a first point of contact for anything security-related.
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Champions should always be able to get hold of the main security team for guidance on how to proceed.
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As champions grow in their role, their tasks can become more specialized, such as using threat modeling or doing vulnerability assessments.
Step 4: Select the Right Security Champions
When choosing who should be security champions, technical skills are not the most important factor. Security champions also need to be enthusiastic and dependable. Of course, it’s helpful if they already have some knowledge of secure development, but traits like attitude, curiosity, and influence also matter.
What to look for
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Choose individuals who are curious and motivated, even if they lack formal security training.
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Champions should have the respect and support of their peers.
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Ensure managers are willing to give time for champions to fulfill their new responsibilities.
Also, offer champions incentives like certifications, career development opportunities, recognition, and extra time off to keep them motivated.
Step 5: Roll Out the Program
Once you’re ready to launch your program, make sure that your champions feel ready enough to take on their new role. Also, now is the time to get others in the company excited and set expectations.
Start by giving your champions the skills and knowledge they need to do the job right. For example, focus on hands-on, real-world training in areas like secure coding, threat modeling, and basic vulnerability management. They should also receive mentorship from experienced security team members who can guide them and answer any questions they have.
How to ensure a successful launch
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Provide hands-on training with a mix of self-taught learning, workshops, and peer mentoring.
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Create platforms for champions to collaborate and share insights, such as forums, regular meetups, or online communities.
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Get the word out about the program by explaining what it’s all about by using your intranet, newsletters, or town hall meetings.
Step 6: Maintain and Optimize the Program
After the program is launched, it still needs to be maintained and kept effective. It will need continuous improvement by monitoring its impact, taking on new challenges, and updating the program to meet new demands.
Gather feedback regularly from champions, but also from their teams and managers. Use this to identify what’s working, what needs changing, and how to scale the program’s impact. Metrics are also important here as they help to show the program’s value and guide future improvements.
What to focus on
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Track metrics such as reduced vulnerabilities, faster remediation times, and increased developer engagement.
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Check in regularly with champions, managers, and stakeholders to identify what’s working and what needs to change.
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Share success stories and show how the program is helping.
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Consider setting term limits (e.g., two years) to refresh the program and spread knowledge throughout the organization.
Avoid Common Pitfalls
To make sure your program carries on being successful, the following will help:
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Ensure champions have the right amount of support and time to do their regular work along with security responsibilities.
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Recognize the contributions of champions and give them rewards to show they are valued.
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Provide continuous learning opportunities to champions to stay productive.
Let SecureFlag Help You Build a Winning Security Champions Program
If you want to create an effective program, SecureFlag can help. We offer hands-on training in virtual labs and educational resources to give your champions the skills they need to be successful.
From secure coding practices to threat modeling, we make sure your champions are able to take on real-world security challenges. We also make learning fun with competitions, leaderboards, rewards, and more!
Together with SecureFlag, you can build a security-aware culture within your organization while staying ahead of malicious threats.
