It can be relatively easy to get employees to complete security awareness training, but getting them to change how they respond to phishing lures can be challenging. This article reviews the six top security awareness platforms that go beyond box-checking to drive real behavioral change.
By now, everyone hopefully knows the basics of what to do with suspected phishing emails: check the domain address on the sender email and the destination link, and never open file attachments or send payments to unknown accounts. But sophisticated phishing attacks play on human emotions. They’re deliberately written to trigger the panic, anxiety, and fear which override rational thought and lead people to do precisely the wrong thing.
That’s why employees could finish multiple training courses, but still be taken in by a phishing email, text, or call. It’s not enough for them to know what to do – they need to change their behavioral reflexes.
Security awareness training has to rewrite employees’ response systems so that they don’t get taken in by alarmist fake communications, not just teach best practices or guide users through training exercises for the sake of the next regulatory compliance audit. This requires a security awareness platform that is designed to drive true behavioral change.
Key Takeaways
- Real behavior change requires repeated, interactive, personalized training with timely feedback and reminders.
- Security awareness platforms need to incorporate recurring campaigns, microlearning, nudges, gamification, and immediate feedback, with training based on real-world threats as well as each employee’s role and risk level.
- Hoxhunt and CybSafe are purpose-built on behavioral science, and OutThink and TitanHQ also have strong capabilities to drive behavioral change.
- EasyLlama and Barracuda are primarily awareness-focused but have some behavioral science functionalities.
Years of behavioral science research shows what is needed to drive real change in employee behavior.
Interactive training is more effective than passive listening, delivered in bite-sized chunks at frequent intervals to turn best practices into habits. Positive reinforcement that rewards desired behaviors encourages employees to focus and override their first impulses.
Immediate feedback helps stop a one-off mistake from becoming a harmful ingrained response, together with timely reminders that help employees out at moments of uncertainty. Training should be personally relevant, so that employees rehearse scenarios that prepare them adequately for the ones they will experience in real life.
Security awareness platforms can implement these behavioral science recommendations through various features and functionalities:
These are the six best security awareness training platforms that deliver useful features and functionalities to deliver real behavioral change.
Hoxhunt is one of the few platforms designed explicitly to drive behavior change. It delivers interactive training based on real threats, with engaging gamification and rewards, adaptive learning, personalized simulations, continuous microlearning, and immediate feedback.
Hoxhunt capabilities that drive behavioral change:
OutThink is a powerful adaptive learning platform with continuous reinforcement. It’s much stronger at driving behavioral change than traditional SAT vendors, but it isn’t built on behavioral science like Hoxhunt or CybSafe, and it lacks interactive experiential learning and gamification.
OutThink capabilities that drive behavioral change:
Barracuda Networks is primarily a security awareness training platform, with some phishing simulations. It focuses on raising awareness and compliance rather than behavioral change, although it does offer interactive content and recurring campaigns.
Barracuda capabilities that drive behavioral change:
TitanHQ is strong on real-time, contextual interventions that drive behavior change. However, it doesn’t have the behavioral science foundation shared by some of its competitors, and it doesn’t offer robust adaptability or training that’s based on real threats.
TitanHQ capabilities that drive behavioral change:
PHISH from CybSafe is designed around behavioral economics and risk management. It offers personalization, just in time interventions, and habit formation, with reporting that focuses on behavioral change. It just lacks engaging gamification and a rewards system.
CybSafe PHISH capabilities that drive behavioral change:
EasyLlama emphasizes ease of use and engaging training. Its features include interactive training, microlearning, recurring campaigns, and immediate feedback, but it’s designed to prioritize awareness rather than behavioral change.
EasyLlama capabilities that drive behavioral change:
Each of these leading platforms aims to reduce the risks of phishing attacks, but they take different approaches.
Hoxhunt and CybSafe PHISH are built solidly on behavioral science with the explicit goal of driving behavioral change.
OutThink and TitanHQ both deliver strong capabilities that drive behavioral change, but are less sophisticated and focused.
Barracuda and EasyLlama are traditional security awareness platforms that may change employee behavior thanks to repetition and engagement, but are not built to maximize that outcome.
| Capability | Hoxhunt | OutThink | Barracuda | TitanHQ SafeTitan | CybSafe | EasyLlama |
| Continuous learning | Strong | Strong | Average | Strong | Strong | Average |
| Microlearning modules | Strong | Strong | Average | Average | Strong | Strong |
| Interactive training exercises | Strong | Average | Average | Strong | Strong | Average |
| Gamification and rewards | Strong | Weak | None | None | Weak | Weak |
| Personalized, adaptive training | Strong | Strong | Weak | Average | Strong | None |
| Simulations based on real-world threats | Strong | Strong | Average | Strong | Strong | Average |
| Immediate feedback | Strong | Average | Weak | Strong | Strong | Weak |
| Timely reminders and nudges | Average | Strong | None | Average | Strong | Weak |
| Behavioral analytics | Strong | Strong | Weak | Average | Strong | Weak |
How can a security awareness platform change employee behavior?
A security awareness platform can drive real behavioral change by combining continuous learning and personalized training with realistic simulations, immediate feedback, and timely reinforcement. These capabilities help employees build secure habits over time.
Are phishing simulations alone enough to change employee behavior?
Phishing simulations are great for real-world practice, but they can’t deliver lasting behavior change on their own. To really change employee behavior, you need to reinforce simulations with personalized, frequent coaching, immediate feedback, and adaptive learning that is relevant to each employee’s situation.
How can organizations measure whether security awareness training is actually changing behavior?
It’s important to choose the right metrics to measure how security awareness training is changing real employee behavior. Look beyond course completion rates to metrics such as phishing simulation performance, reporting rates, risky behaviors, repeat mistakes, and overall human risk scores.
Ans: A security awareness platform can drive real behavioral change by combining continuous learning and personalized training with realistic simulations, immediate feedback, and timely reinforcement. These capabilities help employees build secure habits over time.
Ans: Phishing simulations are great for real-world practice, but they can’t deliver lasting behavior change on their own. To really change employee behavior, you need to reinforce simulations with personalized, frequent coaching, immediate feedback, and adaptive learning that is relevant to each employee’s situation.
Ans: It’s important to choose the right metrics to measure how security awareness training is changing real employee behavior. Look beyond course completion rates to metrics such as phishing simulation performance, reporting rates, risky behaviors, repeat mistakes, and overall human risk scores.
Ans: Hoxhunt, CybSafe, and OutThink explicitly incorporate behavioral science principles. They use techniques like adaptive learning, nudges, continuous reinforcement, and personalized interventions to drive lasting behavior change.
