7 November 2023 • Cyber security
95% of all data leaks and hacks are caused by human error. That’s why cyber security employee training is more important than ever.
But with so many training providers on the market, it can be hard to find a solution that works best for you and your employees.
In this article, we’ll tell you all about the best training solutions on the market.
The 19 best employee cyber security training solutions
- Guardey
- ESET
- CybeReady
- Hoxhunt
- Proofpoint
- SANS
- Inspired eLearning
- Webroot
- SoSafe
- NINJIO
- Usecure
- Wizer
- Hook Security
- Barracuda
- Phished
- Carbide
- KnowBe4
- Metacompliance
- Arctic Wolf
1. Guardey
Guardey is an employee cyber security training provider built on gamification. In the game, employees get to start a fictional business and get challenged to improve its reputation and earn money by answering questions about cyber security. Users can see how they are doing compared to their colleagues in a leaderboard. If they do well, they can win prizes and earn badges.
The challenges are put together by ethical hackers and educationalists every week. This means the challenges are always up-to-date with the latest cyber security threats. Because users are required to take on a challenge every week, the information is retained well. The final goal is to accomplish lasting behavior change.
You can find a transparent overview of Guardey’s pricing here.
Review
After using Guardey for a couple of weeks, our phishing test scores improved by 84%. – Source
Start a free 14-day Guardey trial
2. ESET
ESET is a well-known cyber security training solution. It’s a 90-minute training that employees are required to complete every year. The training comes with quizzes, a phishing simulator, and interactive sessions.
Since this training only happens yearly, it may not be what you’re looking for if you want to promote continuous security awareness.
ESET’s yearly training starts at $250 for 10 employees.
Review
Our team liked the gamification of the training and thought that it was insightful even for experienced users. – G2
3. CybeReady
As the name suggests, CybeReady aims to get employees ready for cyber threats. It’s a cyber security employee training provider that is specially developed for enterprise companies. For smaller companies, it may not be the most suitable solution. CybeReady also comes with phishing simulations.
Review
At first, the simulated phishing emails seemed a bit childish and too simple and had some GUI issues with new features. – G2
4. Hoxhunt
Hoxhunt calls their solution a human risk platform. The aim is to identify which of your employees are vulnerable and change their behavior. The software sends phishing emails to your employees. Once they engage with it, they get to do a quiz that informs them about the phishing they have just witnessed.
As with many cyber security employee training solutions, Hoxhunt’s pricing is not available on the website. You will need to request a demo to learn more about what you will be charged.
Review
Instead of panicking when receiving an email requiring immediate action for compromised accounts, I now instantly assume it is a scam. The internal Hoxhunt rankings are merciless. Previously there was no way to have any vacation time and you would miss out on your streak score, either requiring you to check work emails during vacation or accepting the loss. – G2
5. Proofpoint
Proofpoint offers a holistic approach to cyber security employee training. It’s based on three pillars: finding the vulnerabilities within an organization, improving unsafe behavior, and evaluating program effectiveness. They call this the ACE framework. The training is made up of both video- and game-based modules.
Pricing is not available on the website, so you’ll need to talk to sales to find out what you’ll be charged at the end of the month.
Review
I must start with the customization factor that Proofpoint offers. Everything in the platform is customizable. From the templates, landing pages, training docs, etc. Some minor downsides would be that the UI is not very intuitive. – G2
6. SANS
SANS offers a collection of cyber security employee training solutions to help companies meet compliance requirements. The solutions range from phishing simulations to short technical content.
SANS is mostly focused on more technical roles, such as IT system admins and developers.
Review
It was a very easy training module to work through. The information taught was very well written, and it was laid out in a way that made it very easy to understand. – G2
7. Inspired eLearning
Drawing upon more than two decades of extensive experience in enterprise cyber security, Inspired eLearning presents a diverse array of cyber security employee training solutions designed to cater to businesses of all dimensions.
Their training packages encompass integrated learning pathways, anti-phishing simulations, CyQ evaluations aimed at identifying employee proficiencies and shortcomings, as well as a quantifiable ROI monitoring dashboard.
Review
Very difficult to assign the trainings with respect to departments and then track the respective areas that are receiving the most traffic from the department-specific employees. – G2
8. Webroot
Webroot’s cyber security employee training solution offers an affordable and easily accessible means to enhance preparedness for cyber threats. This is accomplished through the implementation of phishing simulations and concise, targeted security and compliance courses, ensuring that users remain well-prepared to counteract hacking attempts from cyber criminals.
Review
The training content is well presented and easy for those taking the courses to understand. The phishing emails often get caught in spam filters and junk folders. – G2
9. SoSafe
SoSafe provides cyber security employee training software that adheres to GDPR compliance. Employing behavioral science and intelligent algorithms, SoSafe delivers personalized learning experiences and attack simulations that empower employees to become vigilant assets in defending against online threats.
With short micro-learnings, their training solution is designed to make information stick for longer than just a couple of weeks after training.
Pricing is not available on SoSafe’s website, which means you’ll need to contact sales to learn more about what you will be charged at the end of the year.
Review
The trainings are well put together and offer a lot of insight into your progress and tips on how to do better on topics that need improvement. – G2
10. NINJIO
If your team likes animated content, Ninjio is the perfect match for you. Ninjio’s training videos, each running 3-4 minutes, are crafted with a ‘Hollywood-style storytelling’ approach and are inspired by recent cybercrime events.
Instead of evaluating their users’ knowledge through gamification, they assess user susceptibility using what they refer to as the Ninjio Risk Algorithm. This algorithm quantifies user engagement with the video content to gauge their potential vulnerability to specific social engineering tactics.
Ninjio’s pricing is not disclosed on their website, so you’ll need to request a quote or schedule a meeting for more details.
Review
The training can be too long and drawn out. Content is not always relevant to the user’s specific role or responsibilities. – G2
11. Usecure
Usecure provides a security employee training solution that allows businesses to deliver personalized training tailored to each user’s specific risk profile. Over time, a comprehensive risk profile is developed, aiding administrators in identifying areas that may require additional focus. The courses are implemented with a customized frequency.
Users have the option to select from two distinct training styles: one with a more engaging and lighthearted approach, and the other more corporate-friendly, both of which incorporate interactive elements and video content.
Review
Very helpful staff and very easy to navigate through the UI. Not enough phishing and course templates. The reporting needs to be adjusted a bit to be easier to read and make it simple for customers to understand. – G2
12. Wizer
Wizer provides a cyber security training solution for employees with a focus on brief, attention-grabbing one-minute videos and compelling storytelling to facilitate team learning. Their Wizer Stories recreate actual scam scenarios to create memorable educational content. The Boost version includes comprehensive access to the video library, phishing simulations, gamified elements, and the ability to create customized training modules.
Wizer’s full plan starts at €25 per user, per year.
Review
Wizer is much easier to setup and manage than our previous platform. The training are bite-sized videos that cover the topic well without droning on. – G2
13. Hook Security
With Hook Security, your team receives annual training alongside monthly in-depth exploration of specific topics. They take pride in delivering cyber security employee training that is both constructive and respectful of their users.
Their training approach focuses on videos and courses, without the reliance on gamification. If this aligns with your preferred learning style, Hook Security could be the right choice for you.
Their pricing is fully transparent and can be found on their website.
Review
Despite their individualized training, the instruction is lengthy. Hook Security is a little difficult for novices, but it is simplified when we concentrate on the modules. – G2
14. Barracuda
Barracuda’s cyber security employee training solution empowers businesses to confront evolving cyber threats, such as phishing. Offering a wide array of real-world threat templates sourced from Barracuda’s extensive database, users are kept abreast of the most recent email threat variations. Comprehensive user behavior metrics are used to shape security risk evaluations and tailor training solutions.
To learn more about Barracuda’s pricing, you’ll need to contact their sales department.
Review
The interface is overwhelming at first. A startup wizard would be appreciated. – G2
15. Phished
Phished, a company based in Belgium, provides a blend of personalized simulations, brief and easily digestible training sessions, and proactive reporting. The training sessions are designed to be concise and easily consumable. The product incorporates a gaming aspect, allowing users to earn certificates and badges as a form of recognition.
Your organization can start using Phished from €145 per month.
Review
We started using the Phished platform over 3 months ago and it has been working great. It’s automated, so we don’t have to be hands-on at all, which of course is a huge time saver. – G2
16. Carbide
Carbide, formerly known as Securicy, provides a specialized information security and privacy management platform. It is a solution that avoids merely being a ‘checkbox compliance tool.’ Their platform encompasses continuous cloud monitoring and in-platform cyber security employee training via the Carbide Academy.
To learn more about Carbide’s pricing, you’ll need to get in contact with their sales department.
Review
I like the project management features which allow us to delegate tasks to our team without inputting everything into another system manually. – G2
17. KnowBe4
KnowBe4 is one of the most renowned companies on this list. They provide an extensive array of training resources, with a dedicated module specifically designed for enterprise security.
Their training format includes extended video sessions accompanied by multiple-choice questions, each session requiring a minimum of 10 minutes for completion. To showcase the return on investment (ROI) of your program to your board, KnowBe4 also offers reporting.
To use their training, you are required to purchase a minimum of 25 seats, making this product likely better suited for larger enterprises than for smaller businesses. You can learn more about KnowBe4’s pricing here.
Review
The admin console is not intuitive at all, things are buried everywhere and needlessly over-categorized. – G2
18. Metacompliance
Metacompliance’s cyber security employee training solution offers the flexibility to schedule training sessions at preferred intervals throughout the year. They take great pride in their extensive e-learning content library, which allows you to draw from a wide range of materials to create customized training courses. The content is available in over 40 languages.
Regarding pricing, specific information is not disclosed on their website. To gain more insights into their pricing structure, you’ll need to arrange a meeting or request a quote directly from their team.
Review
It was pre-curated and was done in small easy-to-understand chunks that were quick to work through. The pre-test was too long and very difficult compared to the course content. – G2
19. Arctic Wolf
Arctic Wolf’s security employee training relies on concise, targeted content that is continually refreshed to remain pertinent in the face of ongoing cyber threats. Similar to Guardey, they offer a leaderboard feature, but it focuses on gauging engagement and active participation rather than test results.
As for Arctic Wolf’s pricing, it is not provided on their website, which means you’ll first need to contact their sales team to learn about it.
Review
We leverage Arctic Wolf to help cover gaps and do quarterly reviews of our security posture. – G2
Choose a cyber security employee training provider based on gamification
The count of individuals falling victim to cybercrime has seen a significant increase in recent years. It’s more important than ever to take proactive measures to transform your employees into a robust human firewall, capable of identifying cyber threats and responding appropriately.
To access comprehensive cyber security employee training that is both ongoing and captivating, consider using Guardey.
