Every October, companies gear up for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
There are posters. Tipsheets. Webinars. Maybe a phishing simulation or two.
Then November arrives, and the urgency fades. Until the next headline forces a reaction.

But awareness was never meant to be a campaign. It was meant to become culture.

If employees only think about cybersecurity when posters go up or newsletters land in their inbox, then the message isn’t sticking. Worse, it signals that security is still treated as an event, not a mindset.

This year, instead of running another routine awareness drive, organisations should be asking better questions.

Is Your Awareness Programme Focused on Reality or Repetition?

Recycled posters and generalised tips may tick the compliance box, but they don’t shift behaviour. If your phishing simulations still include typos and fake banks, they’re missing the mark. Attackers have moved on. They are using real brands, social engineering, and internal references that feel credible.

Effective awareness is contextual. It should reflect your business, your people, and your risks. It should talk about real threats seen in your environment, not theoretical ones.

If employees aren’t seeing themselves in the examples, they won’t change how they behave.

Does Your Team Feel Safe Reporting Mistakes?

Awareness fails when people are afraid to speak up. If clicking a phishing link leads to public shaming or disciplinary action, users will stop reporting. They’ll hide incidents. And that silence creates risk.

A mature security culture encourages curiosity, not fear. It rewards early reporting, even when it comes with mistakes. It treats awareness as a shared responsibility, not a performance test.

If your teams aren’t talking about security openly, your culture isn’t ready. No matter how many awareness emails you send.

Are You Measuring Engagement or Just Participation?

Attendance at a webinar is not the same as understanding. Clicking through a training module doesn’t guarantee retention. If your metrics stop at who opened the email or completed the quiz, you’re missing the real picture.

The question isn’t “did they do it?”
It’s “did they get it?”

Organisations that take awareness seriously are using pulse surveys, scenario testing, and live feedback to see where the gaps really are. Knowing who clicked is less useful than knowing who paused and asked, “is this normal?”

You Don’t Need a Bigger Campaign. You Need a Clearer Message.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a moment. Not a solution.
Use it to highlight what matters. Talk about what’s real.
Then do the work that turns awareness into behaviour, and behaviour into culture.

Because threats don’t wait for campaigns.
And neither should your teams.