Eenbes is a foundation of 25 primary schools in the Netherlands with around 600 employees. Ingrid Spijkerboer, the group ICT coordinator and privacy officer, has been leading the organization’s efforts to strengthen information security and privacy awareness. For years, little had been done structurally in this area. With Guardey, Eenbes has taken a big step toward building a more security-conscious community across all schools.
“Employees often think information security is just an ICT responsibility, but it’s about attitude, like locking your screen or handling data properly.”
The challenge: Overcoming employee resistance
Before starting with Guardey, Eenbes had only made small, policy-based attempts at information security and privacy. Nothing serious was ever done in terms of employee awareness.
That gap carried real risks. “The biggest risk lies with the awareness of employees. People often think information security is just an ICT responsibility, but it’s about attitude, like locking your screen or handling data properly.”
Employees didn’t always realize they could be targets. “Some thought: why would anyone hack us? We’re just a school? They didn’t see that schools hold valuable information.”
At the same time, participation in awareness activities was a challenge. Security was often seen as an extra burden. “In education, information security is not seen as sexy. Employees often feel it’s just another thing on top of their full schedules.”
“Some employees thought: why would anyone hack us? We’re just a school? They didn’t understand that schools hold valuable information.”
The solution: A program tailored to education
Guardey provides short, gamified challenges every week. Each challenge takes just a few minutes and keeps employees engaged with topics like phishing, data handling or password security. By spreading training out over the year, awareness stays top of mind without overloading busy teachers and staff.
For Eenbes, the weekly rhythm was key. “I like the principle of doing a little every week instead of one big training day or long modules. It’s short but powerful.”
“With Guardey, teachers learn about cybersecurity in a context that they understand: classroom situations, parents, students. That’s crucial for motivation.”
Guardey’s special content program for education made a big difference. “Teachers learn about cybersecurity in a context that they understand: classroom situations, parents, students. That’s crucial for motivation.” And if a challenge doesn’t align with Eenbes’ own policies, Ingrid can easily adjust it.
To launch Guardey across all 25 school locations, Ingrid used a mystery box for every school, filled with playful items, Guardey posters, and information about the Dutch information security directive IBP Normenkader. Presentations for directors and newsletters explained why awareness matters. “That helped to put security awareness on the map.”
The result: Awareness has become a conversation
The impact of Guardey quickly became tangible. “We get more phishing reports than before. Sometimes it’s even false alarms, but that shows employees are alert.”
The same goes for data breaches. “Low numbers before only meant people weren’t reporting. Now the reports have increased.”
Employees have also started talking more about simple daily habits. “They suddenly discuss things like locking their screens or not leaving papers lying around. Security awareness has become a conversation.”
“Employees suddenly discuss things like locking their screens or not leaving papers lying around. Security awareness has become a conversation.”
Guardey’s streak feature motivates employees to keep playing every week. Each time they complete a challenge, their streak continues. If they skip a week, the streak resets to zero. “Some don’t want to lose their streak, even when we have paused Guardey during vacation periods.”
A bit of friendly competition adds to the fun. Schools compete among each other and receive small prizes like cake, medals or books when they top the leaderboard. For Ingrid, though, the biggest gain is consistent engagement. “The most important value that Guardey offers us is that our employees come into contact with security every week. That matters more to me than perfect scores.”
Don’t let hackers outsmart you
Make sure your employees are prepared to recognize security threats with Guardey. Start your 14-day free trial today.
