Cybersecurity awareness through team building

Cybersecurity, and more broadly the risks that come with new technology, is a key challenge for every company, whatever its size. One suspicious email, a set of stolen passwords, an intrusion into your information system… and the whole organisation can come crashing down.  The good news: tools are getting smarter and more secure every year. But any specialist will tell you that a company’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: people.

Why does cybersecurity awareness matter?

99% of employees have already taken at least one action that put their employer’s data at risk (Intermedia, 2017, Data Vulnerability Report). So everyone’s security depends on raising awareness and teaching the right habits. Team building is the perfect way to combine awareness-raising with data protection. New attacks appear every day, and employees need training to make critical thinking second nature and keep company data safe.

The challenges of cybersecurity

Let’s map out the cybersecurity challenges, so you can identify the themes to cover in an awareness session:

1. Show users the most common mistakes and the bad habits to avoid.
2. Involve users by showing them the consequences for themselves
3. Pass on the right information so the message stays clear.
4. Refresh your awareness programme as cyberattacks evolve.

Classic awareness training, the kind we’ve all sat through at one company or another, is cleverly designed. It answers challenges 1 and 4 perfectly. It spells out the do’s and don’ts, clearly and effectively.

At Arcane, we regularly work alongside specialists in the fight against cyberattacks to build cutting-edge awareness and training modules tailored to your sector. 

Because yes, play and a subject as serious as cybersecurity do go together. The clients we work with on this would even say you have to combine them to stay one step ahead. Play isn’t a passing trend: it’s an analysis of how people think and act. And both, clearly, keep changing. 

What is a trend is the format of the game. Had cybersecurity been a challenge in the Middle Ages, we’d probably be offering you a training programme that looked a lot like croquet. 

How do you raise cybersecurity awareness among employees?

1. Identify the measures to put in place and build a plan to make sure every team member has the knowledge needed to keep the company secure.
2. Invest in training your employees and keep your teams up to date with best practice.
3. Make cybersecurity awareness a priority and share cybersecurity news regularly. Use these team moments to build cohesion and create real connections.
4. Plan an awareness-focused onboarding session with a corporate games agency to make sure the message really lands.

How do you run a cybersecurity awareness game?

How have we at Arcane used game mechanics for cybersecurity awareness? 

Analyse the audience to involve everyone

In team building, and in awareness-raising especially, you don’t speak to every type of employee in the same way.

Analyse the message to get across during the session

Once the employee profiles are identified, the team building format is adapted to get the message across to participants. You don’t say the same thing (the game content) to everyone. 

Analyse the constraints of the corporate game

Several constraints shape the creation of a corporate game: venue, timing, budget, must-haves. The game serves the objective, never the other way round. It’s a tool, not an end in itself. 

From these three steps, Arcane Experience created a large-scale murder mystery in a Spanish castle. And here’s the surprise: you don’t always need to sit every employee behind a computer to run a cybersecurity awareness session!
To build cohesion and strengthen team spirit, we ran an escape room in the showroom of a major IT manufacturer (there were plenty of computers there!). We also designed a board game that travelled to several countries to train subsidiaries. Our games were later adapted to remote formats to meet team building needs during lockdown.

How do you motivate your teams and build group cohesion?

1. Set out your expectations to bring a team together. Do you want to build a culture of shared responsibility, problem-solving and decision-making? Say so. An inspiring leader communicates these values from day one, so every team member understands what they’re signing up for and can work together in a positive environment.
2. Respect your team members to improve cohesion. New team members shouldn’t be treated as a pair of hands there to carry out tasks. A positive working atmosphere, the kind that strengthens cohesion, takes hold when people are valued and respected for their unique talents and their ability to contribute to a shared goal.
3. Build connections within the team to boost performance. Valuing and recognising each team member is essential, but it matters just as much that team members show the same respect and care towards each other. Encourage people to work towards a shared goal, individual success and the team’s objectives. When connections form and people support one another, a real sense of cohesion and belonging takes hold.
4. Value emotional intelligence to create collective momentum. Some team members thrive on pursuing shared objectives. Others look for healthy competition, whether against an outside competitor or another sales team down the corridor. By accepting the reality of different working styles and different drivers, managers treat individual differences as an asset rather than an obstacle.
5. Motivate through positivity to work better together. Resist the urge to criticise your team members’ mistakes. Instead, create a positive team environment and build social cohesion by highlighting the moments and behaviours you particularly appreciated, then encourage your team to do more of them. Positive reinforcement is a far more productive way to drive team performance than shaming those who got it wrong.
6. Communicate to support workplace wellbeing. Assume people want to know. If they sense you’re unhappy but nothing is said, stress and even resentment can build up, and performance suffers. Or if they think they’re doing a great job while you, as their manager, aren’t satisfied, the news of underperformance will come as an unwelcome shock. So sharpen your communication skills: effective communication can sustain strong working relationships for decades, whereas silence can wreck them in no time.
7. Reward teamwork. Find a small way to show that you’re paying attention to your employees and that their efforts are appreciated. These interactions reflect well on you as a manager and remind people that they matter to the team.

How often should you run cybersecurity training?

You should train your company’s teams at least once a quarter, with practical exercises and constant reminders about newly emerging attacks and recent breaches. To land properly, this training should be playful and built around a shared goal that creates real group dynamics.

Building team cohesion through an awareness game

In every playful experience created by Arcane, a corporate games agency, the player takes on the role of problem-solver and hero. That involvement builds a sense of belonging, motivates people and creates momentum. Players have to analyse, understand and solve. Is there a better way to learn and unite your teams than putting people back at the heart of the subject?