Take your security awareness training to the next level!

Human error continues to be a leading factor in data breaches. Security awareness training can reduce the likelihood of this error, but can coworkers absorb that information?

Gamification can help address this problem. This blog will provide insight into how you can make security awareness training fun!

What are the benefits of gamification?

According to the 2020 Market Share Analysis & Data, here are some interesting gamification statistics:

  • 80% of US workers believe game-based learning is more engaging.
  • 60% increase in employee engagement as a result of gamification training features.
  • Gamification affects the willingness of students to study enjoyably, with preferences for certain gamification elements: profile updates (53%), getting points (27.2%), receiving badges (14.1%), and other awards (5.4%).

Everyone wants to win and be competitive in the right environment. When you create this friendly, fun environment with your training, your coworkers’ engagement, as well as their knowledge retention, will increase.

What’s risk3sixty’s experience with gamification?

This past June at risk3sixty, I led an internal security training on IT Control Testing. The goal of this training was to do the following things:

  • Show the non-audit team members what control testing looks like
  • Spark conversations on best practices in control testing
  • Build a competitive, playful environment for my team members

The layout of the training was simple: a slideshow presentation with a quiz at the end. But for this training, I used a third-party tool called Kahoot to gamify my quiz.

How did we gamify our training?

In this first screenshot, the problem is presented with 4 multi-choice answers. The aspect that makes training engaging is the timer. The quicker you respond with the right answer, the more points you get.

In this next screenshot, you will see who selected the correct answers and who did not. This is a great opportunity to analyze the mindset and knowledge of the players.

    1. You can clarify the question and reasoning behind the right answer.
    2. You can address the wrong answers and discuss the reasoning behind making those mistakes.

The fruit of this time is discussion and education. By learning from these mistakes, your coworkers can further understand best practices and avoid mistakes like this in the future.

In this final screenshot, you will see the competitive spirit of your coworkers come out.

The points from your correct answer will be added up to the total points of correct answers you have gathered so far. Getting the right answer is nice but being the first one to get it right is even better.

This will drive more engagement from your players. No one wants to have their mind drift off or even blink when the next question comes.

The game ended. Now what?

When the Kahoot game ends, you have the opportunity to analyze the results of your training. Kahoot has a reporting feature to analyze how the players performed and the areas of improvement. Here is an example of the report:

The “Difficult Questions” and “Need Help” sections can:

  • Point you to how you can improve your security awareness training.
  • Show you the potential vulnerabilities from human error in your company.

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

Investing in gamification can be time-consuming at first, but the pay-off is huge. Gamification helps you be competitive in your work and studies. The more you know, the better you can protect your company.

Contact Us

If you are interested in improving your security awareness training, our company has programs in place to aid your business and take your security to the next level, so get in touch! We hope you take part in some way to improve security for all while having fun with the help of gamification!