According to Kaspersky’s recent survey of IT and cybersecurity practitioners, 50% of businesses currently have cybersecurity hygiene courses available. However, employees may be reluctant to participate in such training programs. Because there is a special department in charge of this area, employees may believe that they can be forced to do someone else’s job and may not see how cyber security affects their lives. As a result, even when they complete the course and learn best practices, they can behave as they did before completing the training.
Defined as a leader in security awareness training in 2021, included in the comprehensive SA&T vendor functionality segment in Forrester’s Now Tech report, Kaspersky is constantly improving its training solutions, delivering new up-to-date learning techniques. Therefore, to make training more interesting and increase employee interest in information security, the company launched its new game [Dis]connected.
In the game, players live 24 hours a day in a future where smart home assistants prepare breakfast, people live in underwater houses, and robotic body implants become widespread. The game draws attention to some problems that people are familiar with, despite the technological progress. For example, the playable character has to solve a number of tasks at once. They like to work at an innovative implant manufacturer. The game changes direction according to how successfully the player can realize his project and make it attractive. The actor tries to maintain good relations with his colleagues and stay productive while maintaining a balance in his private life.
The choices made by the players in different areas are interrelated. For example, when they have a disagreement with a colleague, they are not informed about significant changes in their project. Conversely, if chatting with coworkers takes too long, players miss the project deadline.
Cybersecurity elements are included in the plot to show how relevant decisions can contribute to the character achieving their goals or disrupting their business. For example, players who decide to save time and do not update their implants cannot increase their productivity and therefore cannot complete projects on time. During the game, a user has to solve 24 cases covering topics such as passwords and accounts, emails, web browsing, social networks and messaging programs, computer security and mobile devices.
An hour of gameplay, presented in a piecemeal approach, with each session being ten minutes. This makes the game more digestible and helps the player retain knowledge. The game can be offered after passing the training courses to reinforce all the cybersecurity knowledge gained by the employees and motivate them to apply their skills in practice. Used in city and nationwide projects, the game promotes cybersecurity awareness among citizens.
Kaspersky Academy President Denis Barinov says: “The story-rich game is all about the choices and dilemmas of the modern world. Should we use the latest technologies to our advantage, even if they pose additional security risks? Or give them up for security’s sake and make them less effective in our business. Should we be? will provide.”
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