Cybersecurity Training Firm Unveiled to Help Credit Unions
"We have to arm employees with knowledge, but also give them the tactics they need to sidestep cyber sneak attacks.”
Cybersecurity experts Sherri Davidoff and Corey Skadburg, have partnered with the Iowa Credit Union League’s holding company Affiliates Management Company, to build a cybersecurity training firm to serve credit unions.
The training organization, BrightWise, based in Des Moines, will be led by Davidoff as CEO and Skadburg as COO.
“People tend to think cybersecurity happens in the IT department,” Davidoff said. “In fact, keeping the cyberwolves at bay requires continuous, sharp-eyed guards at every point of entry. Front-line staff are under constant assault from crooks and their automated robots, look-alike communications and other crafty tricks. We have to arm employees with knowledge, but also give them the tactics they need to sidestep cyber sneak attacks.”
Skadburg said, “Credit unions, even those with really robust cybersecurity programs, still have a significant vulnerability within the employee base.” He noted while this is true for organizations in many industries, credit union staff are wired to bend over backward for members and their colleagues. “If an unusual request comes across a credit union employee’s desk, skepticism can be overridden by a sense of duty to solve problems for people quickly. BrightWise training is designed to help credit unions balance exceptional member service with sound protection of the credit union from cybersecurity criminals and the increasingly sophisticated traps they set for employees.”
BrightWise will initially offer subscription-based cybersecurity training through an online learning management system. The tool offers credit unions access to short and engaging training videos (two-five minutes in length), quizzes, documentation, webinars and gamified features. Managers can track employee progress within the system, a function that should help mitigate increasing regulator insistence on continuous employee training.
BrightWise’s platform is designed to:
- Engage. A lighthearted, interactive learning journey engages the employee.
- Educate. Simple and understandable cybersecurity training makes employees wise to cyber threats.
- Empower. The end-goal is to create empowered employees who are alert and ready to be the first line of defense against cyberattacks.
Credit unions that partner with BrightWise purchase employee training on a per-seat basis and will have access to the complete BrightWise library, to which new content is added each month.
All credit unions, regardless of a partnership with BrightWise, are invited to share the firm’s Facebook content with credit union members via their own social channels. Posts will share micro tips or trending pieces of cybersecurity news to help more consumers make smart choices throughout their work days.
Davidoff, who is also founder/CEO of Missoula, Mont.-based LMG Security, which provides cybersecurity and digital forensic services, has 17 years of experience as a cybersecurity pro. Davidoff’s expertise includes digital forensic examinations, penetration testing and security awareness. Davidoff’s exploits as an MIT student is also the real-life inspiration for the book “Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called ‘Alien.’”
Skadburg is a financial services industry veteran with more than 15 years of experience helping financial institutions adapt for continued revenue and membership growth.