A living standard for security awareness practice

The Security Awareness and Culture Charter

Written by practitioners, endorsed by vendors, owned by neither. A shared standard for what good security awareness practice actually looks like.

06
Foundational values
12
Practice standards

Foundations

Six values

While there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

0101

Trust in practitionersover vendor defaults

Out-of-the-box settings are a starting point, not a policy. The person running the programme should be trusted to adapt it.

0202

Behaviour changeover completion metrics

A programme's success is measured by what people do differently, not how many finished a module.

0303

Need-based cadenceover calendar-based cadence

Frequency should be set by risk, role, and evidence of what's working, not a fixed schedule because it sounds thorough. Over-frequent simulation breeds fatigue and complacency, the opposite of the culture it's meant to build.

0404

Relevanceover volume

One well-targeted intervention beats ten generic ones sent to everyone.

0505

Trustover fear

Programmes that punish or shame users for failing simulations erode the reporting culture they're meant to build.

0606

Career progressionover a ceiling

The function should offer real senior roles, not force practitioners to leave the field to keep advancing. Remove the ceiling and there's no need to leave it in the first place, so the best talent stays, the next generation has something to aspire to, and the skills built over a career aren't lost.

Practice standards

Twelve practices, three tiers

Every practice area sits somewhere on the same path, from rigid compliance to a genuine culture shift. Select one to see the full standard.

Compliance Capability Culture

Endorsed by

Practitioners and vendors

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For practitioners

Add your name as a practitioner who stands behind these principles and standards.

For vendors

Publicly commit to building toward this standard and have your logo added to the wall.