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Anagram takes a gamified approach to employee cybersecurity training
Anagram, formerly Cipher, is revolutionizing employee cybersecurity training by introducing gamified, interactive methods. Their platform uses engaging videos and personalized puzzles to help employees recognize suspicious communications. This new approach follows a pivot aimed at addressing the cybersecurity training gap for non-security staff. Anagram recently raised $10 million to further develop its innovative training solutions amidst rising social engineering threats fueled by generative AI.
Key points
- Anagram's platform provides hands-on security training designed to be engaging and frequent.
- The platform includes bite-sized videos and interactive puzzles to help employees spot suspicious emails.
- Initial focus was on 'capture the flag' for cybersecurity staff, but pivoted to include all employees after feedback from CISOs.
- Anagram has seen strong growth since pivoting, landing notable customers like Thomson Reuters and Disney.
- The company recently raised $10 million in its Series A funding round.
- Phishing failure rates for companies using Anagram's training dropped from 20% to 6%.
- Generative AI is increasing the personalization of social engineering attacks, making traditional security harder.
Why it matters
- The rise of generative AI is expected to complicate cybersecurity further by enabling more sophisticated phishing techniques.
- Similar gamified approaches in education (e.g., Duolingo, Khan Academy) have shown the effectiveness of engaging training methods.
- Increasing cybersecurity incidents have underscored the need for effective training across all employee levels, beyond just IT staff.
Anagram's gamified training approach represents a significant shift in addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities among non-security employees, leveraging engaging methods to combat rising threats from advanced AI technologies.