Defence Online

Psychological Self-Defence, from Working Voices

July 7, 2026

At Working Voices, our 30 years’ experience in designing and building training programmes gives us in-depth understanding of behavioural change. Through our commitment to blended learning, we support trainees through a package of talks, workshops, and group-study.

Our objective is to set out clear messaging that is learned and understood by trainees who are given the opportunity to practise and demonstrate their knowledge. Applying this approach to our Psychological Self-Defence programme, we have developed a unique live experience specifically designed to help leaders and their people minimise the risk of cybercrime.

While the programme can be tailored to clients’ needs, it typically begins with an introductory talk.

Bringing trainees up to speed on concepts and terminology, the talk is interactive, fun, and laced with revelatory details that turn common assumptions on their head.

Trainees then proceed to the next stage, which opens with small-group workshops. Led by a skilled facilitator, these expand on themes introduced in the talk, developing them with a focus on relevant skills that draw on the fundamentals of critical thinking, communication, leadership, managing uncertainty, confidence and self-esteem, psychological safety, and decision-making.

This palette of skills informs specific steps in threat awareness, including:

1. Situational awareness – ‘spot it early’ skills:

• Understanding common attack vectors (eg BEC, phishing, deepfakes, credential stuffing)
• Recognising phishing and social engineering cues
• Identifying deviations and abnormal requests (payment, credentials, urgency pressure)

2. Thinking smart, thinking twice – questioning legitimacy of requests:

• Checking inconsistencies (email domains, tone, timing, formatting)
• Applying ‘trust but verify’ thinking under time pressure
• Avoiding authority bias (‘CEO says do it now’)

3. Verification discipline – behaviour that stops mistakes becoming incidents:

• Using secondary confirmation channels (phone, secure messaging, in-person)
• Following payment and identity verification protocols
• Escalating uncertain requests instead of acting independently

4. Communicating threats – transforming individual awareness into organisational protection:

• Reporting suspicious emails or requests quickly
• Communicating uncertainty clearly (‘this might be spoofed’)
• Escalating appropriately without delay or embarrassment

5. Managing uncertainty under pressure – a core cognitive skill in cyber contexts:

• Making decisions with incomplete information
• Resisting urgency and time pressure manipulation
• Balancing operational continuity versus security caution

6. Leadership in vigilance environments – for managers and team leads:

• Setting expectations for security-first behaviour
• Reinforcing ‘stop and verify’ culture without blame
• Encouraging reporting of near-misses

7. Team coordination and response readiness – maintaining operational capability:

• Coordinating escalation paths (IT, security, finance, leadership)
• Ensuring role clarity during suspicious events
• Communicating status updates clearly during uncertainty

8. Cultural reinforcement skills – sustaining alertness over time:

• Encouraging psychological safety in reporting mistakes
• Normalising ‘challenge upwards’ behaviour
• Avoiding complacency after long periods without incidents

As part of our blended learning approach, our Psychological Self-Defence programme encourages trainees to think habitually about the risks of cybercrime – enhancing your culture of accountability, responsibility, and intelligence. We can also work with your cyber-security people to test staff on a periodic basis.

Employees learn to respond to cyber threats with confidence, readiness, and the ability to defend the organisation from risks. In turn, leaders will know that they have taken proactive action, and that the organisation is less vulnerable. Ultimately, our approach embeds a culture of smart thinking, enabling people to remain alert and capable. Talk to us, we’re Working Voices, and we’re ready to help: wvpsd.com

Read part four in the series.

Post written by: Vicky Maggiani

Vicky has worked in media for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience in editing and creating copy for a variety of sectors.