More Immersive Cyber Drills: How Rich Media Can Bring a Scenario to Life
When running a cyber drill, it’s useful to have a consistent and cohesive sense of the story throughout. The use of branding and rich media (videos and audio related to the theme) can engage participants through a sense of world-building and storytelling. Imagine your company drill looking like your company — logo, color scheme, font and all. The Brand It’s a good idea to start with all the assets needed to create the custom content. In my case, I created a logo and color scheme for a fictional news company, CHANNEL 6 News. The intention was to create a consistent look and feel for the news updates we would use. Using a simple color palette and classic news branding style, I could then create a virtual website for news updates using presentation software. This allows for ease of editing and can be presented full-screen to look like a webpage. A key requirement of the project was to create content that could be edited by anyone — no special software needed. This is just a slide in a presentation! The slide format could be used to represent a company website, a news outlet, or anything to aid the storytelling. Each slide in the presentation is a copy of the previous, but the news story is changed (title, image, and copy). Rich Media Video is engaging; it grabs our attention and helps with immersion. Video that has relevant branding and specifics has the chance to immerse participants even further. Continuing with the Channel 6 News theme, I used an AI video generator to create a news presenter intro and outro, all within a single prompt to maintain a consistent look. I also created a graphical intro in professional video editing software, aligning the branding and adding stock backing music. Using a more stripped-back video editing app, such as Google Vids, templates can be created with the intro and outro already in place. In between, video clips and voiceover (also generated) provide the main content of the news update. These templates allow for quick editing by anyone without the need for expert software. Download the MP4, and we’re ready to slot it into a cyber drill! Here's an example of the intro/outro and small amount of content between. Company Videos Immersive has a fictional company it uses for Crisis Sims called Orchid Corp. We have brand assets (logos, graphics, etc.) that we use to create print and digital media. I created employee welcome videos using stock media and generated voiceover audio, which ended up being fairly convincing. Now, imagine your company assets in whatever type of video you want. Perhaps a news broadcast, maybe an internal or external press release on the crisis situation. The more entertaining and interesting the content, the more immersion and engagement. Prove and Improve Running drills with custom videos will capture your audience’s attention and imagination. There's a great opportunity to review how the media can be adjusted for further storytelling depth. It could be effective to have the story evolve at a future drill, building on the actions taken previously. Having templates for the content, such as a news update clip, means that significant time is saved in preparation and a consistent feel is kept across drills.The Human Edge Beyond Pentesting – Building True Cyber Resilience
The Human Edge Beyond Pentesting – Building True Cyber Resilience Pentest vs. Red Team: Understanding the Core Difference Many cybersecurity vendors are rebadging pentesting as attack simulations or red teaming, often at a higher cost. However, there's a clear difference: Pentesting (Penetration Testing): The overarching goal of penetration testing is to find vulnerabilities within an environment in order to create a remediation plan. Reporting focuses on documenting as many vulnerabilities as possible in the allotted timeframe. Red Teaming (Attack Simulation): In contrast, red teaming is used to validate the efficacy of the defensive (blue) team. It is not looking for vulnerabilities per se, it is about achieving the objectives while trying to avoid detection. Reporting focuses on finding defensive gaps and assessing the blue team's response capabilities. The ultimate goal is to simulate real-world adversaries and determine if the defensive team has the telemetry to detect them. The key takeaway is that if the engagement isn't assessing your detection capabilities, it is not a red team. When Does Red Teaming Truly Add Value? While valuable, red teaming isn't always the most cost-effective solution, and really it is usually only effective in these three scenarios: When You Have a Regulatory Requirement: Industries with specific regulations, such as BEST, TIBER, FEER, CORIE, and AASE, often mandate regulatory red teams, which have standardized approaches and qualifications. When You Have a Very Mature Organization: Your organization has addressed all other possible security issues and has limited justification for further spending, a Red Team can provide a level of assurance that few other testing strategies can match. However, if you have known, unaddressed issues, red teaming rapidly loses value as the simulated attackers will typically take the easiest route to compromise and report on issues you are already aware of. When You Need a "Burning Platform": Sometimes, demonstrating the potential severity of a worst-case scenario is necessary to secure critical budget increases. Red teaming can effectively highlight how badly wrong things could go, aiding CISOs in getting the needed resources. However, it's important to note that more cost-effective methods often offer a better return on investment than red teaming outside these specific use cases. Purple teaming offers a more holistic approach to measuring your blue team's capability while also having a much higher knowledge transfer rate. Attack path mapping is far more comprehensive in discovering what attackers can do and what vulnerabilities or misconfigurations can be chained together to achieve compromise. The Pitfalls of Misaligned Red Teaming Several factors can hinder the benefits of red teaming outside the identified use cases: Resource Intensive: Red teaming is both costly and time-consuming. Potentially Divisive: It can sometimes lead to conflict between teams or erode trust within an organization. Weak Follow-Up: Lessons learned from red team exercises are often not translated into actionable steps, or worse completely ignored. Limited Scope: It may fail to explore cascading impacts and real-world disruptions. Insufficient Business Focus: Without an understanding of broader business consequences, the exercise's value can be limited. Increased Risk: Poorly executed red teaming can introduce wasted effort or unnecessary investigations. Often Undetected: A significant number of red team operations do not trigger alerts or go unnoticed by defensive teams. This last point highlights the importance of understanding why an attack wasn't detected, by asking: Was an alert generated? Was it marked as a false positive? Was a process followed? Was the process correct? Enhancing Cyber Resilience: A Holistic Approach Cyber resilience is not just about products or individual tools; it's about the application of skilled and motivated people, understanding and utilizing technology, and implementing reliable and repeatable processes and detections. The focus should be on building a robust, layered defense that understands, anticipates, and mitigates all phases of the attack chain, recognizing that the perimeter is no longer the sole objective for attackers. To truly improve cyber resilience, organizations need to focus on three key areas: Security Posture: Continuously assess and strengthen your foundational security. Detection Capability: Improve your ability to identify and triage malicious activity. Response Capability: Enhance your team's efficiency and effectiveness in reacting to and recovering from incidents. This involves exposing defenders to real-world Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) relevant to their environment. Furthermore, understanding the capabilities and blind spots of both your security team and defensive tooling is crucial for applying and testing effective mitigations and proving resiliency. Practical Approaches to Building Resilience To achieve true benefit from simulations, organizations must prepare individuals and teams before and after the simulation. This involves a cycle of "Prepare & Protect" and "Detect & Respond". Effective training and exercises are vital for different audiences: Individual Preparation: Hands-on labs can provide technical training for various roles, including defensive cybersecurity professionals, penetration testers, developers, application security experts, and cloud & infrastructure security personnel. Technical Team Exercises (Team Sim): These focus on the technical aspects of cyber attack and response using pre-configured cyber range scenarios. Participants investigate or perform simulated attacks using real cybersecurity tools and techniques in a safe environment/sandbox. Executive & Business Exercises (Crisis Sim): Moving beyond traditional tabletop exercises, Crisis Sim puts teams into dynamic crisis simulations with real crises, dynamic storylines, and contextual media. This helps measure and benchmark responses to inform crisis strategies and build muscle memory through regular exercising. By understanding the distinct roles of pentesting and red teaming, strategically applying attack simulations, and investing in comprehensive training across all levels of the organization, businesses can genuinely enhance their cyber resilience and gain the human edge over cyber attacks.Level Up Your Resilience: Analyzing Results and Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Welcome back for the final instalment of our series on Cyber Drills! In Parts 1 and 2: Level Up Your Resilience: Unlocking the Power of Cyber Drills with Immersive Level Up Your Resilience: Planning and Executing Effective Cyber Drills with Immersive we explored the fundamental importance of Cyber Drills and the critical steps involved in planning and executing them, all while highlighting the comprehensive guidance offered by The Definitive Guide to Cyber Drilling. Now, we arrive at the crucial stage that transforms a drill from a one-time event into a driver of lasting improvement: analyzing the results and fostering a culture of continuous learning. As Chapter Two: Post-Exercise Analysis of The Definitive Guide outlined, the insights gained from a Cyber Drill are only truly valuable if translated into actionable next steps. This chapter, along with the principles woven throughout the entire guide, provides the framework for turning your drill experiences into tangible enhancements in your cyber resilience. Post-Drill Analysis: Uncovering Key Insights: Once the Cyber Drill is complete, the real work begins. The Definitive Guide emphasizes the need for a thorough analysis of the drill results, focusing on assessing performance against the outlined objectives. This involves: Leveraging Platform Data: Using a platform like Immersive’s, analyze the data generated during the drill to identify areas of strength and weakness in technical execution. Gathering Participant Feedback: The Guide recommends capturing feedback from all participants to understand their experiences, challenges, and suggestions for improvement. Facilitator Debriefs: Conduct debrief sessions with the facilitation team to gather their observations and lessons learned regarding the scenario flow, participant engagement, and any unexpected issues. Identifying Key Findings: Based on the data and feedback, pinpoint the most significant areas for improvement in processes, communication, technical skills, and incident response plans. Reporting and Governance: Communicating Value and Driving Action: The Guide highlights the importance of easy-to-follow reporting requirements and establishing governance processes to ensure that the insights from Cyber Drills lead to tangible changes. This includes: Tailored Reporting: Develop reports that are relevant to different stakeholders, from technical teams to executive leadership, clearly outlining the findings and their implications. Actionable Recommendations: Ensure that reports include specific and measurable recommendations for improvement. Integration with Existing Processes: Feed the findings and action items into your existing security processes, such as incident response plan updates, training programs, and technology deployments. Executive Communication: Clearly communicate the value and ROI of your Cyber Drilling program to leadership, demonstrating how it contributes to overall cyber resilience. Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement: A successful Cyber Drilling program is not a one-off exercise; it's an ongoing commitment to learning and adaptation. The Definitive Guide emphasizes the importance of fostering a culture where: Learning is Valued: Encourage participants to view drills as learning opportunities rather than pass/fail tests. Feedback is Encouraged: Create a safe space for open and honest feedback. Iteration is Key: Use the insights from each drill to refine your scenarios, processes, and training programs for future exercises. Micro-Drills for Continuous Training: As mentioned, consider incorporating "micro-drills" for more frequent, bite-sized opportunities for learning and measurement. Why Immersive for Cyber Drilling: Immersive provides a powerful platform to support your entire Cyber Drilling journey. Our integrated solutions, combining Cyber Range Exercises, Crisis Sim, and Labs, enable you to: Create realistic and customizable scenarios. Engage both technical and leadership teams. Generate measurable results and insightful data. Track progress and demonstrate tangible improvements. By embracing the principles outlined in The Definitive Guide to Cyber Drilling and leveraging the capabilities of Immersive, you can move beyond simply assuming readiness to demonstrably proving and continuously improving your organization's cyber resilience. This concludes our series on Cyber Drills. We invite you to join us on a journey toward a more resilient future. You can download the full Definitive Guide to Cyber Drilling here.Transforming Bug Triage into Training: Inside the Making of Immersive AppSec Range Exercises
“We all know the pain of bug reports clogging up a sprint—we thought, what if we could transform that drain on time and morale into a challenge developers are excited to tackle?” Rebecca: Oh, I love that—turning bug backlog dread into bite-sized victories is brilliant. I’m excited to hear more, but first, congratulations on launching Immersive AppSec Range Exercises! This is a BIG deal! No one else does anything like this for developers. Naomi: Thanks! What can I say? My love for cybersecurity goes back to university capture-the-flag events. Pushing yourself outside your comfort zone with hands-on challenges is by far the fastest way to learn. My main goal was to bring that same energy to application security—there are loads of CTFs for pentesters, but not really for developers who need to sharpen their defensive and remediation skills. I also wanted this to be inherently team-friendly. Our individual AppSec labs are built for individual learning, but group dynamics demand different pacing and collaboration tools. Rebecca: Makes total sense. Offensive skills get the headlines, but developers need a solid, team-centric defensive playground too. So how did you translate that vision into the actual structure of our AppSec Range Exercises? Naomi: I anchored everything in the maintenance phase of the software lifecycle: Receive bug → Triage → Fix → Test → Merge. That mirrors real dev workflows, so participants don’t just patch vulnerabilities—they live the ticket management, version control, and testing cadence they’ll face on the job. [Inside scoop: When we build any security exercise, our team maps it to a real-world experience. In Immersive AppSec Range Exercises, a common SDLC workflow—teams learn best when they see exactly how it will play out in their daily sprints. ] Rebecca: I love that you’re training both mindset and muscle memory—jumping through the same process you’d use in production. Once you had that flow, what were the first steps to bring the framework to life? Naomi: Well, I knew that this project was going to need quite a few applications to house the functionality for the exercises, so I audited what we’d need from scratch versus what open source could handle. For ticketing, most OSS Kanban tools were overkill, so I built a lightweight app called Sprinter. Then for version control, we leaned on GitLab—it was quick to stand up and gave a familiar UI for branching and merges. Once those pieces clicked—vulnerabilities surfacing in Sprinter, code pushes in GitLab, and test runs in the Verification view—we had a minimally viable range exercise in action. Rebecca: A smart “build-what-you-must, borrow-where-you-can” approach. Seeing that prototype come together must’ve been so cool. Naomi: Absolutely. It was one thing to design on paper, but watching the pipeline live—tickets flow in Sprinter, GitLab merge requests, automatic test feedback—was a genuine “wow” moment. Rebecca: Speaking of “wow,” let’s talk scenarios. How did you land on “Blossom,” your vulnerable HR app in the Orchid Corp universe? Naomi: Well, we needed something with enough complexity to showcase the framework. HR apps hit three sweet spots: business logic richness, varied user roles, and sensitive data. Tying it into Orchid Corp—our fictional corporation for Immersive Cyber Drills—gave it narrative depth, especially for returning users of our Immersive One platform. Rebecca: And when you designed the actual vulnerabilities inside Blossom, what guided your choices? Naomi: I started with the OWASP API Top 10—that’s our gold standard for spotting the biggest threats. Then I looked at what slips through most scanners and frameworks—nuanced business-logic flaws and edge-case logic bugs—and made those the core of the challenge. To keep things well-rounded, I also added a few classics—things like IDOR, SSRF, and command injection—so every player gets a taste of both modern pitfalls and time-tested exploits. [Inside scoop: Mixing modern, real-world API flaws with a few known “gotchas” keeps Immersive AppSec learners guessing and builds confidence when they spot the unexpected.] Rebecca: I know you’re busy working on the next exercises we’ll release, but before we wrap, how did you test Blossom among developers and engineers? No doubt you wanted to make sure it delivered the right experience! Naomi: Yes, absolutely! We ran a pilot with our own Immersive engineers and a third party, creating a realistic dev team. Watching them collaborate—triaging, patching, merging—validated every piece of the design. Their feedback on pacing and hint levels let us polish the final release. It was one of my favourite days—seeing months of work click into place. After that, we shipped it to customers knowing it was battle-tested. Rebecca: This has been fantastic—thank you for sharing your full planning and development journey, Naomi! From initial vision to a live, collaborative exercise … I’m awed. You certainly put incredible thought and care into developing this revolutionary approach to AppSec training. Final Thought Security is a team sport, and training like Immersive AppSec Range Exercises is the fast track to confident, resilient DevSecOps teams. If you’re a developer or engineer looking to level up your remediation skills, have your team lead reach out to your Account Manager for a demo. In the meantime, watch a sneak peek of what your experience would be like in this demo below:Why Drills Are the Future of Cybersecurity: Insights and Reflections on the Critical Role of Drills
My background After two decades in the world of penetration testing and offensive security, I joined Immersive as the Director of Technical Product Management. This new role represented more than just a career shift – it was an opportunity to leverage my deep-rooted experience of cybersecurity to make a tangible difference in how organisations prepare for the cyber threats of today and tomorrow. Throughout my career, I’ve had the joy of working on the front lines of cybersecurity, testing the defenses of organisations of all sizes, from startups to multinational corporations. I worked my way up from a junior consultant in a boutique company to the global head of attack simulation for one of the largest pure-play security consultancy firms in the world. I’ve seen firsthand how attackers operate, exploiting weaknesses not just in technology but in processes and human behavior. I’ve also seen the other side of the coin – what happens behind the scenes when a company identifies a breach and needs to investigate, contain, and recover from it. This journey has given me a unique perspective on the intricacies of cyber incidents – how they unfold, how they escalate, and how they can be mitigated if handled correctly. Over the years, I’ve come to understand that offensive security isn’t just about finding vulnerabilities; it’s about understanding the broader context of how security failures can impact an entire organisation and, most importantly, how to get back to business as usual. One of the key lessons I’ve learned from my time in offensive security is that real-world cyber incidents are rarely straightforward. They’re messy, unpredictable, and often involve a complex web of factors that go beyond the technical realm. In my experience, cyber incidents don’t happen in isolation; they’re the result of a combination of technical vulnerabilities, process failures, and human errors. Attackers don’t follow a script – they’re constantly adapting, finding creative ways to bypass defenses, exploit blind spots, and leverage misconfigurations or overlooked details. This nuanced understanding of how incidents unfold is often missing from the current training and exercising landscape. Realism vs textbook Many cyber resilience exercises available in the market today lack the depth and realism of a real-world attack, and that’s very difficult to capture, especially if you’ve never been exposed to it. Many exercises are built around predictable scenarios, focusing on textbook responses, and just don't capture those swings from tedium to confusion and then to panic. They’re also often performed in isolation, with the investigating/technical team making decisions and performing actions that wouldn’t be in their remit if it was a real incident. One of my all-time favourite incidents showed these to the extreme. It went from a simple ransomware investigation to identifying seven different threat actors in the environment, all with very different TTPs and MOs. You never pick up the other threat actors at the beginning of their attack, usually because they’ve compromised the same machines as the original actor, and you're left wondering why they’ve suddenly changed tactics. Then you get enough evidence to indicate it’s someone else, so now you have two investigations to perform. I’m not saying that all exercising should be done to that level, but I do feel that there’s a nice middle ground that can be achieved. Simulations can highlight things above and beyond simply probing a SIEM for answers to questions about the attack. Putting that into practice At Immersive, I have the privilege of bringing the lessons learned from years of offensive security into the realm of cyber resilience training. My goal over the last 12 months has been to help create more realistic, dynamic, and comprehensive simulations that mirror the true nature of cyber incidents. This means developing scenarios that go beyond the basics – not just testing the technical teams but also involving executives, legal teams, PR, and other stakeholders who play critical roles during a crisis. By integrating real-world attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) into exercises, we can help organisations build muscle memory for responding to incidents in a way that’s both informed and effective. It’s not just creating realistic simulations, it’s highlighting how the results of an investigation can influence the executive team's decision making and how the decisions made by leadership can either help or hinder an active investigation. This is what led to my involvement in building out Immersive Cyber Drills. But what are drills, I hear you ask? Here’s what our marketing team say: “Immersive Cyber Drill events enable simultaneous drilling of executive and technical leadership teams. These facilitated drills use multiple tools from our platform to evaluate an organisation's capacity to detect, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks through a mix of technical and non-technical drilling.” Ultimately, the goal is to empower organisations to respond confidently to the threats they face. Cyber resilience isn’t just about having the right tools or technologies – it’s about understanding the attacker’s mindset, anticipating their moves, and being prepared to act swiftly and decisively when an incident occurs. Building a foundation for Cyber Drills Instead of creating theoretical scenarios or low-risk simulations, we began building exercises that mirrored the attacks I’d seen work in my previous life. The aim was simple: make the drills feel as close to a real attack as possible while keeping the barrier to entry low enough that they’re still achievable to people just starting out. One of the biggest breakthroughs came when we built a standard environment that mimicked much of the corporate world's infrastructure. We then implemented these real-world attacks over the top of those environments and dropped the users in the middle of the attack. This transformed the experience from a disconnected series of technical challenges into a real narrative. Participants were now uncovering the motives behind attacks, following the trail of TTPs left by the attackers, and trying to predict where they went next. Very rarely do security teams get to investigate in a nice, peaceful manner – there are always questions coming from other areas of the business. Leaders aren't just responsible for understanding the attack, they also need to communicate with stakeholders, manage the internal teams, and make high-pressure decisions. As the Cyber Range Exercises (formerly Team Sims) became more realistic, it was clear that the Crisis Simulations used for the leadership team should follow suit. So we built Crisis Sims around the same attack narrative, putting participants in a situation where leadership had to make decisions that they didn’t know the answers to. If they did want to find out, they would need to ask the teams performing the investigation. This forced both teams to think strategically, communicate effectively, and most importantly, anticipate the other team's perspective and restrictions. We also introduced real-world elements like media scrutiny, conflicting priorities, and escalating pressures to mimic the experience of an actual cyber breach. The results were immediate. The teams were forced to think on their feet and develop genuine muscle memory in ways that couldn’t have been achieved through traditional tabletop exercises. And most importantly – they needed to talk to each other. This fusion of leadership training, technical training, and realism has resulted in teams leaving the drill with a stronger understanding of how to work cohesively as a team and how well they communicate across departments. It also provides a better understanding of the types of nuance that can crop up during a cyber breach. Share your thoughts For the analysts reading this article, what’s the hardest part of performing an investigation in your current organisation? For the executives, what’s one thing you wished all analysts knew about your role? And to everyone, during an investigation, what was your biggest panic moment that could have been easily avoided? Join me in this discussion by sharing your thoughts in the comments.Experience-Driven and Intrinsic Learning in Cybersecurity
Experience-driven learning Experience-driven learning can take many forms, including: Practical simulations Role-playing exercises Individual hands-on learning Team-based exercising For example, some employees may be presented with micro exercises that pivot around key risk areas such as device security, data handling or social engineering. Others may participate in a tabletop exercise that simulates a ransomware attack, allowing them to practice incident response, crisis management, and recovery procedures in a safe and engaging environment. More technical teams can experience a real attack on real infrastructure in a cyber range, working together to identify and understand the attack using defensive and forensic tools. These types of activities foster intrinsic learning, driven by personal interest and the desire for self-improvement rather than external rewards like grades or promotions. These types of activities also engage natural human behaviours related to gamified learning, both individually and as a team. Intrinsic learning Intrinsic learning can be particularly valuable, especially in the context of cybersecurity, because it allows employees to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the subject matter beyond what is required for their job. This approach to learning is not only more engaging and effective but also helps organizations identify areas for improvement and potential vulnerabilities. Intrinsic learning can also help foster a culture of continuous learning within the workforce. By encouraging employees to pursue their interests and explore new areas of cybersecurity, organizations can create an environment where individuals feel empowered to take ownership of their learning and seek out new opportunities for growth and development. To make your cybersecurity training more experiential and foster intrinsic motivation for learning, consider the following steps: Align with personal goals Empower team members to align upskilling pathways with their career aspirations and professional development. Emphasize real-world relevance Showcase how the skills learned directly apply to current cybersecurity challenges and job responsibilities. Provide autonomy Allow learners to freely explore different topics and skills. Create a supportive environment Encourage peer-to-peer learning and mentorship opportunities to build a culture of continuous improvement. Celebrate progress Recognize and highlight individual and team achievements to boost confidence and motivation. Implement adaptive challenges Gradually increase difficulty levels, ensuring learners are consistently challenged but not overwhelmed - the right level of learning is more important than the quantity. Encourage reflection Prompt learners to analyse their performance after each exercise, especially team-based, fostering a growth mindset and self-awareness. Facilitate knowledge sharing Organize regular debriefing sessions where individuals can discuss their experiences and insights gained from the training. Connect to organizational impact Demonstrate how improved cybersecurity skills contribute to the overall success and resilience of the organization. Provide immediate feedback Leverage Immersive Labs' real-time feedback mechanisms to help individuals understand their progress and areas for improvement. By implementing these steps, you can create a more engaging and intrinsically motivating cybersecurity training experience, fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development within your organization. Conclusion Incorporating intrinsic and experience-driven exercises into your cyber resilience strategy can be an effective way of measuring and improving your overall resilience. Today, the need to exercise effectively has become a key feature of many cyber security frameworks and directives such as ISO27001, NIS2 and DORA, requiring organisations to maintain proof with policies and procedures underpinned by data and results. What have you experienced in your own upskilling journeys to get you where you are today, have you found some ways work better than others; Individual, team, hands-on, theory, classroom? What are your favourite ways to learn and stay motivated with the ever-changing cyber landscape right now? Share your stories and insights in the comments below!Making the Most of the Custom Lab Builder: Tone of Voice
Now you can build your own labs in the Custom Lab Builder, we thought we’d provide some guidance on writing with a strong tone of voice to ensure your labs are as engaging as possible. This blog is the third in a series on making the most of the Lab Builder, looking at what we call the Four Cs. Ensuring your writing is… Conversational Concise Conscious Consistent The previous two posts looked at accessibility and inclusivity. This post focuses on tone of voice and how to write authentically to ensure your audience engages with the lab and remembers the message you’re trying to teach them. Writing well For most of your life, you’ve probably been told to write properly. Avoid contractions at all costs. Use complex sentences with plenty of fancy connecting words like “furthermore” and “moreover”. And never start a sentence with “and”. This formal style works really well for some industries. Academia is traditionally an incredibly formal area when it comes to the written word, as is the broadsheet newspaper realm. This is often to reflect the work’s sincerity, to avoid weakening a writer’s reputation, and to present ideas consistently and objectively. But Immersive Labs believes writing can be sincere and objective without being so... dull! Be conversational Copywriting is increasingly conversational, appearing everywhere from LinkedIn posts to the back of your milk carton. This style engages readers by feeling personal and authentic, aligning with Richard Mayer’s Personalization Principle, that people learn more deeply when words are conversational rather than formal. A human-to-human copywriting style makes sense for Immersive Labs, as we’re all about focusing on the humans behind the screens. When using the Lab Builder, we recommend writing your labs in an engaging, approachable style to create a modern, user-friendly learning environment. But conversational doesn’t mean sloppy. It’s about presenting ideas clearly and confidently, helping users feel at ease while they learn. Use everyday, concrete language Using fancy, complex words doesn’t make content better – it can actually distract readers and undermine clarity. Instead, prioritize clear, straightforward language to ensure your message is easy to understand, especially by users with cognitive disabilities. Avoid overly poetic phrases, figures of speech, idioms, or ambiguous language, which can confuse or overwhelm readers, including those with autism spectrum conditions. Strive for clarity to help users grasp your message the first time, keeping their needs front and centre. Address the reader Authenticity is all about gaining your reader’s trust. We recommend speaking directly to them in your custom labs by using “you” throughout your copy. This handy trick also avoids any ambiguity when it comes to practical tasks. Take the following example. “In this lab, the machine must be analyzed and IoCs must be extracted.” Instead of being vague and passive, we recommend talking directly to the reader and telling them exactly what they need to do. “In this lab, you need to analyze the machine and extract IoCs.” Or better yet, you can be even more direct by cutting that down even further: “In this lab, analyze the machine and extract IoCs.” Our labs and scenarios frequently talk directly to the reader. Users are more likely to stay engaged when they’re spoken to, not at. Use contractions Contractions instantly make your writing more conversational by mimicking natural speech. Combining words like "it is" to "it’s" or "you are" to "you’re" adds a touch of informality that feels approachable and inclusive. While once discouraged in formal writing, contractions are ideal for a modern learning environment, making text easier to read, understand, and remember. Be concise Writing in plain language is good for all users, but can make a massive difference for neurodivergent users, those who struggle to focus, those who hyperfocus, or maybe those who find reading difficult. We follow recommendations from the Advonet Group, the British Dyslexia Association, and Clark and Mayer’s Coherence Principle to ensure accessibility for a diverse audience – and you should too! Writing simply and clearly doesn’t mean trivializing content or sacrificing accuracy; it just makes your message easier to understand. After all, no one's ever complained that something's too easy to read! The difficulty comes when balancing this with technical content. How can you make advanced, complex cybersecurity topics clear and concise? Keep it short and sweet Sentences longer than 20 words become difficult to understand and can detract from the point being made. It’s easy for people’s minds to wander, so get to your point in as few words as possible. The same goes for paragraphs. Try and avoid long, dense walls of text. Nobody wants to read that, and it’s no good when thinking about accessibility. Keep your paragraphs to four or five lines, maximum. Get to the point Avoid adding unnecessary side notes to your labs, as they can distract from the main message and make learning harder. Unnecessary content distracts the learner’s attention from the main message, making them less likely to remember the core topic. It disrupts the connections between key messages and diverts the learner’s focus, making it harder to piece together the bigger picture. This is all down to cognitive load theory, which says that in general, humans can handle around four pieces of new information at any one time. To help users focus, stick to the lab's core topic and avoid overloading them with unrelated details. TL;DR When writing your labs with the Custom Lab Builder, ensure all your text is conversational to engage your users with the topic. And also make all your copy as concise as possible. Getting your message across in as few words as possible will reduce cognitive overload, boredom, and frustration. By focusing on being conversational, as well as being consistent and conscious (as we covered in the previous blog posts in this series), your readers will engage with your content better, remember the topic, and be able to put it into practice more easily – improving their cybersecurity knowledge and driving their cyber resilience. Share your thoughts! What do you think about these tone of voice tips when writing your custom labs? Have you tried to write your labs in a conversational yet concise way, and how did this go down with your users? Do you have any other suggestions for the community on how to write conversationally? We’d love to hear from you!Making the Most of Custom Lab Builder: A Guide to Writing Inclusively for All
Language shapes how people perceive and engage with content, so it’s crucial to consider the kind of words you use. Using outdated terminology can offend and disengage learners, as well as hurt a company’s reputation. This blog is the second in a series on making the most of the Lab Builder, looking at what we call the Four Cs. Ensuring your writing is… Conscious Consistent Conversational Concise The previous post in this series looked at accessibility. In this post, we’ll explore what it means to write consciously and inclusively, share practical tips, and show how our platform supports this critical effort. Why is inclusive language important? Inclusive language avoids bias, respects diversity, and ensures accessibility for all. In cybersecurity, it means using terms that foster collaboration and trust, avoiding outdated or harmful phrases, and creating welcoming and empowering content The Quality Team at Immersive Labs is committed to staying up to date with how language changes in the cyber industry. We regularly undertake research and speak to other industry professionals to ensure that our language is appropriate. Words to avoid We recommend avoiding specific terms that some people may find offensive, and some socially charged language that may have negative connotations. Non-inclusive language to avoid Preferred inclusive versions Whitelist/Blacklist Allowlist/Denylist White hat/Black hat hackers Ethical/Unethical hackers Master/Slave Leader/Follower, Primary/Replica, Primary/Standby Grandfathered Legacy status Gendered pronouns (e.g. assuming “he/him/his”) They, them, their Gendered pronouns (e.g. “guys”) Folks, people, you all, y’all Man hours, man power Hours, engineer hours, workforce, staffing Man-in-the-middle attack Machine-in-the-middle attack Sanity check Quick check, confidence check, coherence check Dummy value Placeholder value, sample value Crazy, insane Amazing, incredible, or any other appropriate adjective Socially charged words Preferred inclusive versions Native Built-in, default, pre-installed, integrated, core Abort Stop, cancel, end, force quit Cripple Disable, impair, damage, destroy, ruin Kill Stop, force quit, close, shut down Trigger Activate, initiate, cause, launch Unsure if a phrase you’ve used could be seen as offensive? Ask yourself: is this the most accurate and appropriate choice? Often, you can find a more descriptive word and avoid using these examples. Top tips for inclusive language Use writing tools Tools like Grammarly can help identify problematic words or phrases. You can create customized lists in Grammarly, which will then flag when a word has been used in your writing. Additionally, there are many inclusive language guides available online. Keep it short and sweet Use short sentences and paragraphs. Shorter sentences are easier to read, scan, and understand – especially for those with cognitive disabilities. Aim for sentences around 10–15 words, with variation for a natural flow. Avoid sentences longer than 20 words, as they can be harder to follow. Read aloud Proofread your work aloud to catch awkward phrasing, overly complex sentences, or insensitive terms. Hearing the words can help identify spots where clarity or tone might need improvement. Get a second opinion Ask a colleague to review your final version. A fresh set of eyes can spot language that might be unclear, inappropriate, or overly complicated. Share your thoughts Now that Lab Builder is here and you’ve had a chance to create your own content, how have you made your content more inclusive? We’re always looking to stay up to date, so if you have any further suggestions to add to our list of words to avoid or any other tips, let us know! We’d love to learn from you and grow the collective community knowledge.Making the Most of the Custom Lab Builder: Writing With Accessibility in Mind
What if someone tried to access your content who was visually impaired? Or who had cognitive difficulties? Or who was hard of hearing? Would they be able to understand the information you’ve provided and improve their cyber resilience? Our in-house copyediting team has created a series of articles to help you craft high-quality labs, aligned to the rigorous processes we follow. We embrace what we call the Four Cs to ensure all labs are: Consistent Conscious Conversational Concise These articles delve into each of these principles, showing how to implement them in your labs to create content that resonates with readers, enhances learning, and boosts cyber resilience. This post highlights how being conscious of your formatting can enhance accessibility for assistive technology users and how consistent formatting improves navigation for everyone. Rich text formatting Rich text formatting tools like subheadings, bullet points, lists, and tables in the Custom Lab Builder help organise information for easier scanning, better retention, and improved comprehension. Using these will ensure your content is consistent, accessible, and reader-friendly for everyone! Rich text formatting elements carry specific meaning, which assistive technologies rely on to convey information to specific users. Headings Visually, headings represent hierarchy through different font styling and allow users to quickly scan content. Programmatically, they allow users who can’t see or perceive the visual styling to access the same structural ability to scan. Heading elements should reflect the structure of the content. So your title should go in ‘Heading 1’ formatting, your next subheading will go in ‘Heading 2’ formatting, and so on. To ensure your content reads correctly to screen reader users, don’t use HTML heading styling to represent emphasis, and don’t use bold to make text appear like a heading. Lists (bullets/numbering) Always use bullets or numbered lists using the provided formatting to convey a list. A screen reader will announce that the following information is a list. Links How a link is formed significantly impacts usability. Consider the following sentence: “To find out more about this topic, complete our Intro to Code Injection lab here.” Links are interactive elements, which means you can navigate to them using the tab key. A user who relies on screen magnification to consume content may choose to tab through content to see what's available. The example above would be communicated as just “here”, which provides no context. They’d need to manually scroll back to understand the link’s purpose. Always use descriptive link text that clearly indicates its destination. Avoid ambiguous phrases like “here”. If that’s not possible, ensure the surrounding text provides clear context. “To find out more about this topic, complete our Intro to Code Injection lab.” Bold Only use bold for emphasis! Avoid italics, capital letters, or underlining (reserved for hyperlinks) to prevent confusion. Consistency in formatting reduces cognitive load, making your text more accessible. Bold stands out, provides better contrast, and helps readers quickly identify key information. Avoid italics With 15–20% of the population having dyslexia, italics are worth avoiding because research shows it’s harder for this user group to read italic text. Italics can sometimes bunch up into the next non-italic word, which can be difficult to comprehend or distracting to read. Media If you’re adding media to your labs, such as videos and images, it’s especially important to consider those who use assistive technologies. These users need to have the same chance of understanding the content as everyone else. They shouldn’t miss out on crucial learning. What is alternative text? Alt text describes the appearance and function of an image. It’s the written copy that appears if the image fails to load, but also helps screen reading tools describe images to visually impaired people. Imagine you’re reading aloud over the phone to someone who needs to understand the content. Think about the purpose of the image. Does it inform users about something specific, or is it just decoration? This should help you decide what (if any) information or function the images have, and what to write as your alternative text. Videos Any videos you add to your lab should have a transcript or subtitles for those who can’t hear it. Being consistent Consistency is a major thinking point for accessibility. We recommend adhering to a style guide so all of your labs look and feel consistent. We recommend thinking about the structure of your labs and keeping them consistent for easy navigation. In our labs, users expect an introduction, main content, and a concluding “In This Lab” section outlining the task. This helps users recognize certain elements of the product. It reduces distraction and allows easier navigation on the page. For example, some users prefer diving into practical tasks and referring back to the content if they need it. By using the same structure across your lab collections, your users will know exactly where to find the instructions as soon as they start. TL;DR It’s crucial to focus on accessibility when writing your custom labs. Utilise the built-in rich text formatting options in the Custom Lab Builder (and stay consistent with how you use them!) to ensure your labs are easy to navigate for every single user. By being conscious and consistent with your formatting, every user will engage with your content better, remember the topic, and be able to put it into practice more easily, improving their cybersecurity knowledge and driving their cyber resilience. No matter how they consume content. Keep your eyes peeled for the next blog post in this series, which will look at inclusive language. Share your thoughts! There’s so much information out there on creating accessible content. This blog post just focused on the language, structure, and current formatting options available in the Custom Lab Builder. Have you tried to make your labs or upskilling more accessible, and how did this go down with your users? Do you have any other suggestions for the community on how to write content with accessibility in mind? Share them in the comments below!
