Gaming used in cyber security classes

Cyber incidents acknowledged by organisations in Australia rose by over 100% within the last 12 months. In response, PwC is employing a web-based game to provide enterprises with experience of facing cyber crime.

PwC offered Game of Threats to its clients in Australia to show them what could happen during an actual attack.

Gamers are divided into two separate teams – those who attack and those who respond – and each is awarded points based on results. Richard Bergman, a partner at PwC, said that the black hats generally win at the first time of playing. As those who respond learn preparation and reaction, and methods of how to deal with situations, they are in a better position to take the lead.

Bergman said that Game of Threats is proving to be popular at a locally and approximately 80 directors at board level had played it thus far, with interest particularly from firms in the finance sector. He added that three games could be played over a two-hour span, either as a business employee or a hacker responding to a threat, providing an improved awareness of how these challenges should be tackled in real-world situations.

Bergman said that enterprise awareness of cyber attacks had improved dramatically over the past 12 months, and surveys conducted by PwC had named cyber risk as the main threat for CEOs in Australia.

PwC is taking an interesting stance on spreading awareness of cyber threats. CEOs themselves need to be more proactive in improving security within their company. Posting cyber security jobs would be a great place to start so that in-house expertise can help to prevent threats from affecting the firm.