About Afvalzorg
Afvalzorg is a waste treatment organization with 120 employees spread across seven locations in the Netherlands, with its headquarters in Assendelft. As an essential organization, Afvalzorg must comply with the NIS2 directive, which mandates strict cybersecurity measures, including security awareness training.
The challenge: Meeting NIS2 requirements
As an essential organization, Afvalzorg must comply with the NIS2 directive, a European regulation aimed at enhancing cybersecurity across critical sectors. One of the key requirements under NIS2 is ensuring employees are continuously trained in security awareness.
Niels Olijerhoek, IT Advisor at Afvalzorg, recognized the need for a solution that would engage employees while meeting compliance requirements: “As an essential organization, we have to comply with the NIS2 directive. This directive requires us to keep our employees up-to-date with our security policies and train their security awareness.”
The solution: Engaging, short, and accessible training
To meet the NIS2 requirements effectively, Afvalzorg sought a security awareness training solution that was engaging, efficient, and easy to implement. They chose Guardey for its gamified approach, which consists of short, accessible challenges that don’t feel like a burden on employees.
Niels explains how they landed on Guardey: “Early on, we understood that we wanted to use a gamified solution like Guardey. We wanted the training sessions to be short and sweet. We also appreciated the fun look and feel of Guardey. Aside from that, Guardey was affordable and simply fit our budget.”
The results: Increased awareness and proactive engagement
Since implementing Guardey, Afvalzorg has noticed a significant improvement in employees’ engagement with cybersecurity topics. Employees have become more proactive in asking security-related questions, a clear indication that the training is having its intended effect. “We’re getting more and more comments from employees who are asking questions about our cybersecurity. For instance, whether a certain email is safe or whether they can use a personal device for work. We’ve seen a clear increase in this, and that’s what it’s all about,” says Niels.
For Niels, Guardey’s insights have been particularly valuable. He can monitor participation rates, assess performance against global benchmarks, and identify topics that need extra attention. “In the insights section, I can see how the team is performing against worldwide benchmarks. It has been good to see that we’re performing around that benchmark for most topics. If I see that we perform a bit less on a specific topic, I can make sure that I pay a little more attention to that topic in the future,” says Niels.
Additionally, Guardey’s leaderboard feature adds a friendly competitive element that motivates employees to stay engaged with the training. Niels: “In the future, we’re considering stimulating the friendly competition by celebrating the seasonal winners.”
Easy management and seamless implementation
One of the key benefits for Afvalzorg has been how little time it takes to manage the platform. Once employees are onboarded, Guardey operates with minimal administrative effort. “Being the admin for Guardey takes me little to no time at all. Once everything is up and running, users simply get an email every week that alerts them about the new challenge that is ready for them. The only thing that costs me some time is monitoring how people participate and perform,” says Niels.
Don’t let hackers outsmart you
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