Security awareness has become a cornerstone for ensuring the well-being and safety of employees in an organization.
This not only helps people get complete knowledge about security awareness but also helps them respond to phishing lures and other challenges.
The 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 the wrong thing precisely.
Security awareness training has to rewrite employees’ response systems so that they don’t get taken in by alarmist fake communications.
This article reviews the six top security awareness platforms that go beyond box-checking to drive real behavioural change.
Key Takeaways
- Real behaviour 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 behavioural science, and OutThink and TitanHQ also have strong capabilities to drive behavioural change.
- EasyLlama and Barracuda are primarily awareness-focused but have some behavioural science functionalities.
Years of behavioural science studies show what is needed to drive real change in employee behavior.
Interactive training is more effective than passive learning, delivered in bite-sized modules at frequent intervals to turn best practices into habits. Positive feedback that rewards desired behaviors encourages employees to focus and override their first instincts.
Immediate guidance helps stop a one-off mistake from becoming a harmful ingrained response, together with timely prompts that help employees out at moments of uncertainty. Training should be personally meaningful, so that employees rehearse scenarios that prepare them effectively for the ones they will experience in real life.
Security awareness platforms can apply these behavioral science recommendations through various tools and functionalities:
These are the six best security awareness training platforms that provide useful features and functionalities to deliver real behavioral improvement.
Hoxhunt is one of the few platforms designed specifically to drive behavior change. It provides 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 support. It’s much stronger at driving behavioral improvement than traditional SAT vendors, but it isn’t built on behavioral science like Hoxhunt or CybSafe, and it lacks interactive experiential learning and game-based features.
OutThink capabilities that drive behavioral change:
Barracuda Networks is primarily a security awareness training platform, with some phishing testing. It focuses on raising awareness and adherence rather than behavioral change, although it does offer interactive materials and recurring campaigns.
Barracuda capabilities that drive behavioral change:
TitanHQ is strong on real-time, contextual guidance that drive behavior change. However, it doesn’t have the behavioral science approach shared by some of its competitors, and it doesn’t offer robust personalization or training that’s based on real threats.
TitanHQ capabilities that drive behavioral change:
PHISH from CybSafe is designed around behavioral economics and risk reduction. It offers customization, just in time interventions, and habit formation, with reporting that focuses on behavioral improvement . It just lacks engaging gamification and a recognition system.
CybSafe PHISH capabilities that drive behavioral change:
EasyLlama emphasizes ease of use and engaging eduaction. Its features include interactive training, microlearning, recurring programs, and immediate feedback, but it’s designed to prioritize awareness rather than behavioral improvement.
EasyLlama capabilities that drive behavioral change:
Each of these leading platforms aims to minimize the risks of phishing attacks, but they take different approaches.
Hoxhunt and CybSafe PHISH are built solidly on behavioral science with the primary goal of driving behavioral change.
OutThink and TitanHQ both offer strong capabilities that drive behavioral change, but are less sophisticated and specialized.
Barracuda and EasyLlama are traditional security awareness platforms that may influence employee behavior thanks to repetition and engagement, but are not built to maximize that result.
| 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.
Which security awareness platforms are based on behavioral science?
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.
