At its core, security awareness training ROI is really about a simple question: is the money you’re putting into training actually reducing risk and saving you more than it costs?

It matters because people are still at the centre of most breaches, and AI is making attacks faster and more convincing.

One report found that 95% of data breaches involve human error, whether that’s clicking a phishing link or being fooled by an AI-generated scam. If people are a big part of the risk, they’re also your biggest opportunity to reduce it.

ROI starts to become clear when you connect the dots between:

• The real financial impact of user-driven incidents
• Clear improvements in how employees behave
• Ongoing, consistent tracking of performance over time

This guide explains how to calculate and defend ROI using usecure's benchmark data from 4,231 organizations and industry cost research.

How Much Do User-Driven Data Breaches Cost?

User-driven breaches are financially significant. According to IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the global average breach cost was $4.44 million USD in 2025.

Most security incidents begin with human interaction. The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) consistently shows the human element is involved in a large proportion of breaches, and that phishing and stolen credentials remain common initial access vectors.

Even smaller incidents create cost exposure through:

• Incident response time
• IT and security investigation workload
• Legal and compliance review
• Customer notification requirements
• Productivity loss
• Reputational impact

A single successful phishing attack or credential compromise can exceed the annual cost of a structured security awareness program.

What Does Security Awareness Training ROI Include?

Security awareness training ROI includes three measurable value categories:

1. Risk reduction value
2. Productivity and operational gains
3. Compliance and audit savings

Because major breaches are infrequent but high impact, ROI should be modeled using both early behavioural indicators and long-term incident trends.

What Does Benchmark Data Show About SAT Performance?

To evaluate real-world impact, usecure analyzed anonymized performance data from 4,231 organizations in the Security Awareness Training Benchmark Report.

The data answers three key performance questions:

• Do employees complete training?
• Do knowledge outcomes improve?
• Does training cadence influence results?

Do Employees Complete Security Awareness Training?

Completion is the first measurable ROI signal. Without engagement, exposure does not change.

Across the 4,231 organizations analyzed:

• 88% increased SAT participation
• Training starts grew 66%
• Training completions grew 70%
• Completion rates improved from 75% to 76%

Do Security Awareness Training Scores Improve?

Completion alone does not prove learning. To demonstrate meaningful ROI, you need evidence that users are retaining knowledge and improving over time.

Across the benchmark data:

• 85% improved training scores
• Average score increase was +4.02 points
• 76% improved both participation and performance

Score improvement provides measurable evidence of knowledge retention rather than simple compliance completion. When participation and performance increase together, it signals stronger engagement and a greater likelihood of reduced human risk exposure.

Does Monthly Security Awareness Training Improve Results?

Yes. The top-performing 33% of organizations trained monthly.

Among the strongest improvers:

• Score improvement of 80%
• Score improvement of 61%
• Score improvement of 44%

Consistent reinforcement improves retention and produces stronger measurable outcomes. Learning science supports this pattern, including research commonly referenced in discussions of the 'forgetting curve' and reinforcement over time.

How Do You Calculate Security Awareness Training ROI?

Security awareness training ROI can be calculated using a simple formula:

ROI = ((Risk Reduction Value + Productivity Gains + Compliance Savings) − Training Cost) ÷ Training Cost × 100

If the financial value generated is greater than what you spent on the program, your ROI is positive. If it’s lower, you’re not yet seeing a financial return.

How Much Does Security Awareness Training Cost Per Year?

Security awareness training costs vary depending on the provider, features included, and the number of users you need to cover. Most vendors price per user, per year.

For example:

• 500 employees
• $20 per user annually
• Total annual cost: $10,000

That $10,000 becomes your benchmark. From there, the real question is simple: does your reduction in phishing incidents, account compromises, downtime, customer trust and compliance risk exceed that investment?

When you look at the average cost of even a single user-driven security incident, the numbers quickly put the investment into perspective.

If you want a clearer idea of what this would cost for your team, you can request pricing from usecure and see what the investment looks like based on your size and setup.

How Do You Model ROI Across Multiple Incident Types?

If you want to show real ROI from security awareness training, you need to look at more than one type of incident.

Most organisations don’t lose money from just one big breach. They lose it through a mix of smaller, repeatable issues like phishing cleanups, password resets, and occasional high-impact incidents. Modelling ROI across multiple incident types gives you a more realistic picture of total financial impact.

To do that:

1. Identify common user-driven incidents
2. Assign a realistic annual cost to each
3. Apply a conservative reduction percentage
4. Compare total savings to training cost

This follows recognized quantitative methods like the FAIR model, which calculates:

Expected Loss = Probability × Impact

It also aligns with breach data from the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), which shows strong human involvement in incidents.

Example

Phishing cleanup

• Annual cost: $5,000
• 20% reduction
• Savings: $1,000
  (Cost benchmarks: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report)

Credential resets

• Annual cost: $15,000
• 15% reduction
• Savings: $2,250
  (Password reset cost estimates: Forrester, via Keeper Security)

Serious breach risk

• Impact: $500,000
• Annual probability: 10%
• Expected exposure: $50,000
• 15% reduction
• Savings: $7,500
  (Impact benchmarks: IBM)

Total annual savings: $10,750

If training costs $10,000 per year, ROI is positive.

The method stays the same. Only the inputs change.

What About Productivity Gains?

Training reduces operational drag by:

• Increasing early phishing reporting
• Reducing repeat mistakes
• Lowering avoidable tickets
• Shortening investigation time

Industry reporting frequently emphasizes that faster detection and response reduces overall impact. For broader context on detection, response, and attacker activity trends, see the Microsoft Digital Defense Report.

Even modest monthly time savings compound significantly across a year.

How Does Compliance Affect SAT ROI?

Security awareness training supports compliance expectations across major frameworks and regulatory obligations.

Examples:

• ISO 27001 includes explicit awareness requirements (Clause 7.3) within the ISMS framework.
  ISO 27001 overview (ISO.org)
• The EU NIS2 Directive strengthens governance and cybersecurity risk management obligations, which commonly include staff awareness and training measures.
  NIS2 Directive text (EUR-Lex)

Compliance-related ROI may include:

• Reduced audit preparation time
• Lower remediation effort
• Improved documentation readiness
• Reduced regulatory exposure

What Are the Leading and Lagging Indicators of SAT ROI?

Separating early signals from long-term outcomes improves defensibility.

Leading Indicators

• Score improvement
• Participation growth
• Phishing simulation results
• Reporting rates

Lagging Indicators

• Reduced incident frequency
• Lower breach severity
• Reduced remediation cost
• Reduced downtime

Early indicators demonstrate momentum. Lagging indicators validate long-term impact.

How Do You Present Security Awareness ROI to Executives?

To present ROI to leadership:

• Translate score improvements into reduced risk exposure
• Show quarterly performance trends
• Compare annual training cost to a single incident
• Align reporting with risk register categories
• Demonstrate measurable workload reduction in hours

Boards respond to financial comparison, trend consistency, and defensible risk reduction.

If your current platform makes executive reporting difficult, it may be limiting your ability to demonstrate ROI. Our Security Awareness Training Platform Checklist outlines the key capabilities to look for when selecting a solution built for measurable impact and leadership reporting.

What Are the Limitations of Security Awareness Training ROI?

Security awareness ROI is probabilistic.

Challenges include:

• Separating training impact from technical controls
• Time delays between training and incident reduction
• Different risk exposure across roles

The goal is directional improvement supported by consistent measurement.

Key Takeaways: Is Security Awareness Training Worth It?

• IBM reports an average breach cost of $4.44 million
• The human element remains a major breach factor (Verizon DBIR)
• Benchmark data across 4,231 organizations shows measurable improvement
• Monthly training correlates with stronger score gains
• Modeling multiple incident types strengthens ROI calculations
• Consistent tracking improves executive defensibility

When structured and measured correctly, security awareness training becomes a measurable financial risk reduction control.

Turn Security Awareness Into Measurable Risk Reduction

Security awareness delivers the strongest ROI when it is part of a structured human risk strategy, not just an annual training schedule.

The goal is reducing people-driven exposure through consistent training, phishing simulations, and measurable behavioural improvement that can be reported to leadership.

usecure combines security awareness training with a broader human risk suite, helping you run a consistent cadence, track measurable improvement, and prove impact without adding administrative overhead.

Explore the usecure demo hub: Insert link to demo hub

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do you prove ROI for security awareness training?

Combine measurable score improvements and participation growth with modeled reductions in incident probability, operational workload, and compliance exposure. Trend-based reporting across quarters strengthens defensibility.

What is the average cost of a data breach?

According to IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the global average breach cost was $4.44 million USD.
IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report

Does monthly security awareness training improve ROI?

Yes. Organizations training monthly show stronger performance improvements and more measurable behavioural gains over time.

What metrics should be tracked to calculate SAT ROI?

Track participation, score improvement, phishing simulation outcomes, reporting rates, incident trends, and user-driven ticket volume.

How long does it take to see ROI from security awareness training?

Performance improvements often appear within three to six months. Financial ROI becomes clearer over a 12-month cycle when trends can be compared year over year.