29 October 2024 • Cyber security
With 95% of all data leaks stemming from a human error, it’s important for organizations to invest in human risk management. That’s where a human risk management platform can be helpful to train your employees to recognize cyber risks while being able to measure how that risk is developing over time.
Below, we’ll tell you all about the best human risk management platforms out there.
1. Guardey
Guardey is a human risk platform that uses gamification to make learning about cybersecurity fun and rewarding. It can be best compared to popular apps like Duolingo, as it also uses regular, short challenges that teach users about an often considered boring subject in a playful and fun way. Every week, users get a new relevant challenge that was put together by cybersecurity specialists and educationalists.
What sets Guardey apart from the rest of the pack is how it uses friendly competition to drive engagement. In a company-wide leaderboard, users can view how they are performing compared to their colleagues. By doing well during weekly challenges, they can score points for the leaderboard.
In the insights section, admins can keep a pulse on training performance and track exactly which users may need some extra training. Notice that users don’t score particularly well for topics like phishing or GDPR? Simply add an extra training from Guardey’s public content library with the click of a button.
Pros:
- Fully gamified human risk platform
- Creates friendly competition among colleagues
- Transparent pricing
- Also comes with a phishing simulation module
Cons:
- Doesn’t use video content, which can be a con for some organizations
Customer review
“The uptick in training participation has been fantastic. I think this is because Guardey doesn’t take a lot of time from our users. And most of all, it’s fun. Employees have even set up their own little competitions internally. So we have the company-wide leaderboard, but the teams themselves are now even having their little competitions in Microsoft Teams group chats. Guardey has brought out the competitive nature in them.” – Source
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2. NINJIO
Ninjio Security Awareness is promoted as a comprehensive solution for cybersecurity training. It’s designed to reduce an organization’s cybersecurity risks by providing human firewall training and tailored assessments. Ninjio focuses on engagement, providing high-quality animated videos to entertain and interest learners. Another heavily promoted feature is Ninjio’s reporting system, which aims to deliver clear insights into learner progress and highlight areas of risk.
Despite reporting being a major focus in Ninjio’s marketing, some users have criticized the reporting tools. Admins mention finding these either insufficient or hard to use. That caveat aside, Ninjio includes all the essential components of an effectivelong-term training program, such as baselining, ongoing instruction, continuous evaluation, and gamification. It is highly customizable and supports white-labeling. Reviews are generally positive, with high ratings across key metrics on trusted review platforms.
Users praised the concise, high-quality videos, which are easy to follow and contain plenty of practical information. The video production quality is excellent. Interactive elements also help maintain engagement.
Pros:
- Fun, well-produced cartoons.
- Provides long-term training.
Cons:
- Lacks transparent pricing.
- Despite having some interactive elements, most of the learning is passive.
Customer review
“They handle what episodes to send, and the automation of sending the trainings monthly. As long as our user list is updated, Ninjio takes care of the rest! They’ve gone through a migration over the past several months and have not been the smoothest in my opinion. I think they are almost through it though because stuff has been working smoother again”. – G2
3. KnowBe4
KnowBe4 is a solid all-round solution. It has all the features that you’d expect, including baselining, risk-scoring, ongoing training and continuous assessment. KnowBe4’s training materials are above par, with a well-stocked content library, interactive exercises and gamification. KnowBe4’s reporting features allow admins to track learners’ progress and demonstrate training effectiveness.
The platform also offers phishing simulations and assessments to check that users know how to respond to phishing emails. Reviewers on trusted sites have praised KnowBe4’s automation, which delivers relevant training to individual learners and assesses their progress without much admin intervention. Reviewers also pointed to the large content library as a major plus point.
On the other hand, some reviewers noted that parts of the content were a little outdated, while others were unimpressed with the reporting features. KnowBe4’s pricing is opaque but purchasers note the higher cost compared with similar products.
Customer review
“The KnowBe4 platform as a whole is a great way to monitor security compliance. The available courses are broad, and would be good if you did not have access to a larger pool of better designed courses. As an all in one, with no other systems or services available, KnowBe4 could be a beneficial platform for an organization.” – G2
4. Metacompliance
Metacompliance provides role-based training solutions. In many organizations, some departments may need specialized training to comply with regulatory requirements and organizational policy. For example, a HR department may need appropriate security training to be in compliance with HIPAA. Currently, Metacompliance provides training programs for legal departments, procurement, sales, marketing, finance and HR.
They also offer dedicated training solutions for executive teams and users with high security privileges. Training is highly personalized, with the system automatically tailoring materials and assessments to individual users. Metacompliance also offers other desirable features, such as gamification and interactive elements to promote user engagement. If you’re looking for a role-based human risk management platform, Metacompliance is an attractive product.
Pros:
- Role-based training
- Large content library
Cons:
- Expensive, with opaque pricing.
- The large library can be somewhat unwieldy.
Customer review
“MetaCompliance provides excellent content in a consumable format. This great because our users tend not to have long attention spans. BUYERS BEWARE: They require 90 days cancellation policy regardless of what your contract states.” – G2
5. Hoxhunt
Hoxhunt is a long-term training solution and human risk management platform. It provides all the usual features that you’d expect from this kind of product, including baselining, ongoing training and assessment, a solid content library, interactive tasks, gamification, etc. Hoxhunt’s main feature is its simulated phishing emails, which are sent out regularly to assess users’ vulnerability to this common attack vector. Reviews are highly positive overall, with only a few criticisms.
Most seem to find the simulated phishing attacks convincing but a handful of reviewers quickly learned to spot Hoxhunt’s emails. This is less than helpful, as those users may find themselves looking out for Hoxhunt’s phishing simulations rather than being concerned with actual phishing attacks. On the whole, however, Hoxhunt is a great product with a lot of satisfied customers.
Pros:
- Long-term training and risk awareness development.
Cons:
- Gamification is somewhat flawed, as there’s no way for learners to opt out when they’re not going to be checking emails.
- Phishing simulations aren’t always convincing.
Customer review
“While Hoxhunt’s interface is generally user-friendly, I found the training to be somewhat unclear at times due to my lack of knowledge in cybersecurity concepts and terms. Providing adequate training and support resources can assist in minimizing this issue.” – G2
6. Usecure
Usecure is a well-established training and human risk management platform, sharing most of the features of similar human risk management platforms. Usecure differs from the pack by offering two distinct training styles: “fun” for general users and “corporate-friendly” for those who appreciate a more serious tone. Baseline evaluations are used to create individual risk profiles for each user, which are then further developed as the user interacts with the program.
This means that each user should receive the most relevant and necessary training that they need to close gaps in their knowledge. In practice, however, some reviewers report that learners get the same training sessions repeatedly, which inevitably creates frustration. All in all, though, Usecure is viewed positively by customers and learners. Admins praise the ease of set-up and user-friendliness.
Pros:
- Two different training styles for general and corporate users.
- Personalization.
Cons:
- Trainings may be repeated multiple times for the same learner.
Customer review
“Usecure has very clear videos which are easy to consume, very understandable questions and a good explanation. However, they need to be more trickier with the questions, it’s easy to get the right answer.” – G2
7. Arctic Wolf
Arctic Wolf’s training system is designed to be integrated with their other cybersecurity products. This has the advantage of using data from users’ activity to tailor their individual training more effectively. Trainings are short and punchy, with a defined topic and purpose. As with other solutions that use gamification, Arctic Wolf features a leaderboard. Unusually, though, the leaderboard doesn’t rely on test scores; instead, it measures a user’s level of participation and engagement.
The more they interact with the training materials, the higher they’ll climb. Reviewers were impressed overall but noted some drawbacks. The simulated phishing emails cannot be customized to a specific company or industry. The process of adding and removing users is cumbersome, requiring admins to contact Arctic Wolf with details rather than simply amending records themselves. Arctic Wolf does not provide transparent pricing but is generally seen as a more expensive option.
Pros:
- Purpose-driven content.
- Promotes engagement.
Cons:
- Phishing simulations can’t be customized.
- Adding and removing users is needlessly complicated.
Customer review
“The Arctic Wolf Managed Security Awareness program was easy to set up and it’s easy to maintain. Educational sessions, quizzes, and phishing simulations are distributed regularly to employees without any action required by our internal IT team. Updating the list of employees as folks are hired or termed can be a slow process because we need to send an updated list to the team at Arctic Wolf and they use that to update our information.” – G2
8. Phished
Phishing is one of the biggest threats to cybersecurity in today’s digital world, and Phished exists to address that specific threat. It’s less generalized than some similar products but if you’re looking for a human risk management platform that specificaly focuses on malicious emails, Phished is ideal. The system takes a holistic approach, using a combination of brief training sessions (described as “snackable” in their marketing), active reporting and personalized phishing simulations.
There’s a lack of transparent pricing but Phished is generally seen as a less expensive product when compared to competitors. Reviews are highly positive, with most admins finding it easy to use and praising its effectiveness. The one quibble seems to be that Phished’s reporting features lack depth.
Pros:
- Phishing-focused, with convincing personalized simulations.
- Easy to set up and run.
- Cost-effective.
Cons:
- Lack of detail in reports.
Customer review
“Very user-friendly, the user experienc is excellent. Very complete tool with an excellent leaning academy. Because that’s what it’s all about: creating awareness. Helpdesk response speed could be better.” – G2
9. Proofpoint
Proofpoint is broadly similar to other human risk management platforms, offering baselining, ongoing training and evaluation, and gamification. Their main selling point is their holistic ACE approach: assessing vulnerability, changing behaviour, and evaluating effectiveness. This data-driven approach is intended to deliver more relevant and effective training to every user. This makes Proofppoint especially appealing to organizations that have many learners at different levels. Proofpoint has good scores across a range of important metrics on trusted review sites but is not without its flaws. In particular, admins report that Proofpoint is not the easiest platform to use, with an unintuitive interface and some annoying bugs.
Pros:
- Data-driven training.
Cons:
- Unintuitive and tricky to use.
Customer review
“The best part about Proofpoint’s SAT is using it for making campaigns across the team which helps them to increase awareness about cyber security and it very easy to use. We were easily able to implement and integrate it. However, prices are still above of the market average rate and customer support is not good.” – G2
Conclusion
There is a wide range of human risk management platforms on the market. By browsing through the list above, you’ll learn which solution fits your organization best.
For a human risk platform that is fully gamified and drives friendly competition among colleagues, consider trying out Guardey. You can try out for free during a 14-day free trial.
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