Finglas-based IT.ie simulates phishing attacks to test employees’ awareness and recognition of threats.
No matter how much money a business spends on its defences against cyberattacks, the investment is only as good as the average employee’s vigilance.
Finglas firm IT.ie has created a new gamified cybersecurity training platform to help firms boost their workers’ alertness.
“Our goal is to create an experience that is personalised, easily consumable and not overly disruptive from other important day-to-day tasks”
The service, which keeps employees on their toes by simulating real cyberattacks, reflects a growing use of gamification by organisations globally and across multiple industries to drive user engagement and business success. A study conducted by TalentLMS found that gamification increases engagement levels during cybersecurity training by 70%.
New regulations, including NIS2 and DORA, are resulting in ensuring that businesses are much more accountable for cybersecurity. Minimising the risk posed by employees will therefore help to reduce the success of attacks. This will save businesses money through decreased insurance premiums, as well as any money that may be paid as ransom.
People are the weakness in most cybersecurity defences
Human error currently accounts for 90% of data breach incidents. IT.ie’s gamified solution aims to reduce that risk by creating an engaging experience which encourages employees to maintain and upskill their cyber-resistance. This is essential as hackers continue to barrage organisations and their employees with attempted attacks using methods such as phishing, social engineering, malware, ransomware, and spoofing.
IT.ie’s solution begins with a gap analysis, which identifies areas where individuals may be vulnerable and require improvement such as awareness of phishing tactics, or effective password management. The result of the analysis allows IT.ie to create a personalised training path for each user to strengthen the areas where they are weakest.
These training paths feed into Learn.IT, which involves digestible, interactive sessions designed to be engaging, allowing employees to develop their knowledge in manageable increments without significant disruption to their daily workflow.
The gamification comes into play with the Phish.IT element of the solution, which regularly targets employees with realistic phishing attempts to test their recognition, awareness, and response to threats. These simulated attempts mean that employees can get practical use out of the skills they have developed through the training.
As employees engage with the solution, this feeds into an overall company risk score. Over time, businesses and their employees can see the benefits that the training is having as their score decreases. This measurement of success also helps to create a sense of collective responsibility and a positive cybersecurity culture within organisations.
“Through experience, we know that the journey a business takes in developing a coherent cybersecurity strategy is not achieved overnight, and employees are the last line of defence in terms of the cyber threat landscape,” said Eamon Gallagher, founder and managing director of IT.ie.
“Our Cyber Awareness Training & Phishing simulation platform paves the way for organisations to invest in their people so as to ensure the development of a robust and healthy cyber security culture. Our goal is to create an experience that is personalised, easily consumable and not overly disruptive from other important day-to-day tasks.”
Main image at top: Eamon Gallagher, founder and managing director of IT.ie
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