New university-wide cybersecurity awareness training program increases compliance by nearly 80 percent

Virginia mandates that all state employees complete annual cybersecurity awareness training. For years, Virginia Tech only offered standardized training for new employees, and left it up to departments to select, assign, and document subsequent annual training among their respective employees. This approach resulted in low compliance rates that were difficult to track. In spring 2025, the Division of IT collaborated with the Human Resources Talent Development team to create a new annual refresher training option for all employees. The new training, which only takes a few minutes for each employee to complete, is managed through the IT Security Office and accessible through PageUp, the university’s human resources learning management platform.

The IT Security Office set up dashboards that allow department managers and human resources staff to track completion rates for their employees. This new program not only provides an easier, more accessible training option to help employees stay current with important cybersecurity basics, but also empowers managers to encourage their employees to stay compliant with their state requirements. Overall, compliance jumped from 6 percent prior to the start of this program, to more than 85 percent at the end of the fiscal year.