I am always on the look out for new security companies that are doing things a little differently. I came across a good one a few weeks back courtesy of my friend Liz Safran. The name of the company is Wombat and they are based in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers.
Wombat specializes in information security education and training. They are a spinoff from Carnegie Mellon’s renowned School of Computer Science. They have been funded by the US Army and the National Science Foundation. The cool thing about them is they make learning security fun.
Remember not everyone is so enamored with computer security. Sure no one wants to be breached, but for most employees cyber security training ranks just ahead of a trip to the dentist.
Wombat takes a different tack. They make security training a game, literally. Right now there training is concentrated on anti-phishing. The paradigm is a “Phish Guru” with anti-phishing Phil and Phyllis. Yes it can be a little campy. But the fact is if people learn while playing, it is a good all around.
That is exactly what Wombat is all about. Using games to educate. They are already talking about branching out beyond the anti-Phishing education they do now. I can’t wait to see more.
There are plenty of companies that do security education and with most it is a question of giving out a security handbook that quickly gets buried under a pile of other stuff. Wombat is making security education fun. You should check them out!