We talked to Marcel Versluis, IT manager at Delta Wines, about how they train security awareness with Guardey. He told us all about the spear phishing simulation we arranged before starting training, how he introduced Guardey to the employees, and how the implementation process went.
Marcel, can you tell us a bit about Delta Wines and your role?
Delta Wines is a wholesaler of wine. We import wine from all over the world and distribute that throughout The Netherlands. We work with about 120 people in Waddinxveen, about 85 of them in the office. As the IT manager, I’m also responsible for cyber security.
Why did Delta Wines start using Guardey?
We used to regularly get calls from insurance companies, informing us about the importance of training our employees. They also emphasized that the NIS2 directive is coming up and that strict cyber security laws will soon be in place because of that.
I understand that the weakest link in the cyber security of an organization is always the human. You can buy as much software as you want, but if your people are not aware of cyber threats, then it’s all for nothing. One wrong mouse click can be enough to get into big trouble.
However, I was never able to find a good security awareness training solution. A lot of other solutions offer training that no employee is ever going to do. Boring e-learning, a lot of reading, it’s just not going to work.
What I liked about Guardey is how it’s built on gamification principles. Users get weekly challenges that take no more than five minutes to complete. And the explanations are easy to read and digest.
Can you tell me a bit about the phishing simulation we did before you introduced Guardey?
Together with the Guardey team, we came up with an email centered around a Christmas gift voucher. We’ve sent these vouchers in the past, which made it very believable for our employees. I was very curious about how employees would react. Because even though a lot of employees tell me they may not fall for phishing, doesn’t mean they won’t or haven’t.
It turns out that quite a few employees clicked the phishing link and even entered personal data. This made it even more clear that we had to start training security awareness.
How did you introduce Guardey to the company?
I introduced Guardey during a quarterly meeting where the entire company got together. First, I shared the results of the phishing simulation. A lot of people were shocked about how many people had clicked or even entered data. That was a great way to show that they were more vulnerable than they may have thought.
How are the reactions from the employees so far?
We’re getting a lot of positive feedback. A lot of employees immediately start playing the new weekly challenge once they receive the email that it’s ready. Some of them are seriously disappointed when they get a question wrong. It has started multiple internal discussions about security, which is great.
I’m also noticing that more people are reporting suspicious emails. And that’s exactly the mindset we’re looking for.
There is a small number of employees that haven’t played Guardey yet. However, I try to tell them that Guardey isn’t only useful for work. You also face cyber threats in your private life. I’m confident that over time, everybody will start playing.
How did the implementation process go?
This was very smooth for us. Often, when starting with new software, you need a lot of consultancy hours to get it implemented and configured correctly. But Guardey is very accessible. All I needed to do was send over the email addresses of our employees and the Guardey team simply set up the accounts. There were a few small hiccups, but those were easy to fix.
There hasn’t been anybody within our company who has asked me how Guardey works. The onboarding process in the product itself is very smooth and easy to follow.
How did Delta Wines make it happen?
Here’s what Delta Wines did to successfully introduce security awareness training within their company.
Spear phishing simulation
By first doing a well-thought-out spear phishing simulation, it was easier to convince Delta Wines employees to start training security awareness.
Offer weekly training via Guardey
By playing Guardey’s security awareness game, employees learn about cyber security in 3-minute challenges. Over time, this drives lasting behavior change.
Don’t let hackers outsmart you
Make sure your organization is prepared to recognize cyber threats with Guardey. Start your 14-day free trial today.
