Information Security Essentials

It is for employees who handle business information in any role: office, operations, sales, finance or support. It needs no technical background. The course helps people recognise the everyday threats that reach them by e-mail, phone and message, and build safer habits at work. It is also a natural first step before Sterling Academy's ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Awareness course.

The course helps your people recognise common phishing and payment fraud scenarios, understand safer password and information-handling practices, and recognise the risks of using AI tools at work. It focuses on practical decisions that employees make every day, so that informed security choices become part of normal work rather than a once-a-year compliance exercise.

Information Security Essentials is a set of short video modules followed by practice questions and a final exam. The course page shows the current number of modules and the approximate video runtime; allow additional time for the practice questions and the exam. With 12 months of access, you can complete it in one sitting or spread it over several sessions.

Yes. Learners who reach the 70% pass mark in the final exam receive a Sterling Academy Certificate of Completion for Information Security Essentials. Each certificate carries a unique number and a QR code, and anyone can check it online using the certificate number and the holder's surname. It is a training certificate for the individual learner.

Yes. Information Security Essentials is a self-paced online course made of short video modules, in English with captions. You study at your own pace during 12 months of access, and practice questions after modules help you check your understanding before the final exam. If a point is unclear, questions are answered by a Sterling consultant.

Information Security Essentials is US$19 per learner. Teams save 20% for 11 to 50 learners and 30% for 51 to 200 learners; 201 or more learners are priced on request. Client administrators can track their team's progress. Prices are in US dollars, excluding taxes, and Sterling confirms final pricing and enrolment.

No. The Certificate of Completion is a training certificate: it shows that one person completed Information Security Essentials and reached the pass mark in its final exam. It is not certification of an organisation to any information security standard, and Sterling does not certify organisations. An organisation is certified by an independent certification body after that body's own audit.

Yes. Alongside phishing, payment fraud, passwords and information handling, Information Security Essentials helps learners recognise the risks that arise when using AI tools at work. The aim is for employees to make informed security decisions about what information they share and how they use such tools, as part of everyday work.