Cybersecurity Games To Make Your Employees Cyber Aware

Cybersecurity awareness can be FUN. Is it possible to create an environment in which people want to high-five in the name of cybersecurity? Absolutely. In fact, making it fun can actually help the knowledge "stick" for your employees. "How?" you ask. Read on... 

Enhance Your Team's Cybersecurity Defenses with Cybersecurity Games

• Games! Security awareness through games allows employees to have fun while learning and feel a sense of engagement that is significantly higher than death-by-powerpoint.
• Studies show that the brain is 68% more involved when having fun.
• In light of the fact that 90% of cyber-attacks are due to human error, appealing to the human side of your employees is not just a luxury; it is a necessity. 

Game-based learning presents many of these opportunities; one of which is the fact that you can gradually advance skills by immersing people in real-life simulations and rewarding them according to their performance. But it’s not all based on merit.

Types of Cybersecurity Games

Within simulations and games, you can learn to appreciate failure as a learning opportunity, reward participation and identify highly-engaged employees. Playing cybersecurity games and puzzles is practice for the real thing!

Online Team-based Training

Online team-based training on cybersecurity creates an engaging gamified experience for all levels of employees, which has been proven to be 16X more effective than standard cybersecurity training! CyberEscape Online is an opportunity to get your team connected and engaged with security while having fun together!

Plus, the training program is completely online and works with your existing video conferencing software, and you'll have access to detailed cybersecurity metrics to monitor the impact of the training sessions.

If you're interested in learning more about how this solution can help improve employee engagement in security training by 16X, book a demo below to see it in action today.

Scenario-based Games

One way to bring learning to life is to create an experience based on a real or imagined scenario. For example, what would you do if you were in line at the grocery store and someone was trying to read your password over your shoulder? How many real-life scenarios can you come up with? 

Puzzle-based Games

Like escape rooms, even working through one puzzle that relies on cybersecurity fundamentals helps make learning "stick." This brings tactile learning into play, which is helpful for many types of people. 

Simulation Games 

In the Living Security "Born Secure" training program, users are put in the seat of a new cybersecurity operative in a complex mission—including some surprising twists and turns! This type of training helps see things from a real-world perspective (which is often unpredictable). 

Quiz-based Games

Who's up for some friendly competition? Training can be formatted as a series of questions, then use a fun "game show" format, have teams compete, or even create an online version that can be played individually or in a group setting. Bonus points for having a fun "buzzer," a funny show host, and creative takes on questions and answers.

Leaderboards

If you can't gamify the actual training, you can gamify the degree to which users participate and engage. Have an always-on leaderboard that reminds everyone of who's more "cyber-aware" than their peers. Offer fun, creative ways to get "bonus points." One idea? Offer points for creating a new game to drive cybersecurity awareness.

Word Games

How do you make all the unique cybersecurity terms "sink in"? Crossword puzzles, rhyming word games, find-a-word, and matching games can help. 

Popular Culture-based Games

Create an experience based on a popular show, movie, or book—think Harry Potter, for example—where the culture, memes, and characters of the game infuse the puzzles and pitfalls the trainees' experience. 

How to Implement Cybersecurity Games in Your Organization

Work with your cybersecurity awareness training partner. Don't have one? Request a demo from Living Security and let's talk. Or, internally, ask for participation from anyone who is interested in helping find or create such games to implement on your own. Ideally, create ways to capture scores and uncover your "Cybersecurity Champions" who complete challenges and help spread the word. 

Top 10 Cybersecurity Games

Here are some innovative cybersecurity games that can help spark even more ideas for you and your team.

1. Targeted Attack: The Game, offered by Trend Micro, follows a corporate manager. Will he make the right decisions? 
2. Living Security's CyberEscape Online experiences put players in a cybersecurity scenario, and only teamwork can change the outcome.
3. Cyber Awareness Challenge 2023, created by the U.S. Department of Defense, provides basic cybersecurity awareness in a fun format.
   
4. "Living Security Tonight," Cybersecurity Kitchen and Game Show-formatted experiences create shared experiences for teams, right down to cooking competitions. 
5. Football Fever: Secure the Win, created by Texas A&M Technology Services, offers a role-play experience at their football stadium, Kyle Field. 
6. Defend the Crown, created by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is a mobile game suitable for adults and children.
   
7. Cyber Mission 2020, developed by the U.S. Military, shows how to protect, defend, and strike down threats.
8. CyberStart Go is a series of games in the shoes of a cybersecurity professional
9. Cybersecurity Circus is another offering from Texas A&M Technology Services, featuring a fun circus theme.
   
10. Interland, presented by Google, helps kids learn to be cyber secure. 

There are many ways to build gaming into cybersecurity training. 

Want to learn more about Living Security? Let's talk.