KONOT improves security awareness among teachers with Guardey
KONOT is a foundation providing education across 22 primary schools in the Netherlands, located in Dinkelland, Oldenzaal, and Losser. Martijn Keur and Frieda uit het Broek, IT policy officers at KONOT, shared insights on how they implemented Guardey to enhance the security awareness of their employees.
About KONOT
KONOT is a foundation that provides educational services to 22 primary schools in the Netherlands, specifically in the regions of Dinkelland, Oldenzaal, and Losser. The foundation focuses on delivering quality education across these schools and is committed to ensuring the security awareness of its staff.
- Industry: Education
- Company Size:60 employees
- Location: Netherlands
- Products:
Challenge: improve the security awareness across 22 primary schools
Martijn explains, “The primary goal of security awareness training is to foster an understanding of how individual actions impact security. Despite our strong technical measures, human errors, such as clicking on a malicious link, remain the greatest risk.”
When GDPR was introduced, KONOT assigned GDPR coordinators and initially used posters to raise awareness. However, as Frieda notes, “Over time, these posters became part of the background, and people stopped noticing them. Keeping security top-of-mind is an ongoing challenge.”
KONOT has recently encountered several cybercrime attempts. Frieda recounts, “We experienced CEO fraud, where employees received phishing emails posing as the head of one of our schools. Additionally, a colleague noticed unusual activity from her email account. We share these incidents internally to emphasize the importance of continuous security awareness training.”
Solution: regular micro-challenges that fit the teachers’ busy schedules
KONOT initially piloted Guardey’s gamified security awareness training and quickly determined it was an ideal solution for their needs. Frieda notes, “Guardey is efficient and doesn’t demand much time from users, which was crucial for us given our employees’ busy schedules. Each Guardey challenge takes no more than 5 minutes.”
To introduce Guardey effectively to the GDPR coordinators, KONOT first conducted a phishing simulation in collaboration with the Guardey team. They followed this with a presentation by an ethical hacker, who reviewed the results of the simulation and provided insights into cybercriminal tactics.
Currently, GDPR coordinators engage with a new Guardey challenge each week, spending just 3 minutes per session. These challenges cover relevant cyber threats and include a leaderboard to foster friendly competition among colleagues.
Result: positive feedback from the GDPR coordinators
KONOT recently launched Guardey, and initial user feedback has been positive. Martijn reports, “The early feedback has been enthusiastic, with users becoming quite competitive, which is a great sign. Guardey’s accessibility is also appreciated. While a few were initially skeptical about the concept of gamified training, we plan to review their feedback soon.” Frieda adds, “Even though I’m not a gamer, I found myself engaging with the challenges easily and enjoyed navigating through the questions.”
As the summer break concludes and schools resume, KONOT plans to implement Guardey’s new educational program. Martijn notes, “We’re excited to start this soon, with the goal of making the training even more relevant to the daily work of primary school teachers.”
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