Cybersecurity Results Month: What Are Your Plans?
With organizations worldwide turning their focus to cybersecurity awareness this October, we’re flipping the script! Say goodbye to Awareness Month and hello to Cybersecurity Results Month. It’s time to move from talk to action and start delivering real results, because simply raising awareness is no longer enough to tackle today’s evolving cyber threats. As we kick off Cybersecurity Results Month here at Immersive Labs HQ, we’re curious to know about your plans. How is your team promoting cyber resilience during October? How are you driving results? What programs have you run in previous years? What has worked and what hasn’t? We’d love you to share your insights and experiences with fellow peers and experts, and through that, contribute to the collective knowledge of the community. We’re looking forward to your thoughts!Did you Escape the Haunted Hollow this year?
👻 Boo! Earlier this month we threw open the creaking gates and invited you to Return to Haunted Hollow to take on 9 more spine-chilling labs designed to test your skills and sanity alike... but many of you conjured up your courage and tackled the challenge like ghouls rising at midnight. In total, 535 brave souls dared to venture into the Hollow, but only 47 emerged from the eerie gloom. As of now, we've witnessed over 2500 doomed attempts, with a mere 1200 miraculous escapes... these labs were truly terror-inducing. There are no treats this time around, it was just a bit of spooky fun. But let us highlight a few community members who survived to tell the tale... 🎃 First to Finish The unstoppable steven was the first community member to escape the Haunted Hollow despite giving everyone else a 2 day head start. 🦇 Fastest to Complete en4rab managed to flee in just 9 hours, the quickest of all community members. 🧛 Most Accurate A quick escape was not enough for en4rab! They were clearly unspooked as they managed to achieve a 97% accuracy rate... the highest of all community members. 🧟 Most Persistent A-Rai-Col braved the fear and despair and refused to give up , ultimately escaping after 14 attempts. Congratulations to all of our survivors. For those still trapped in Haunted Hollow, fear not! These labs will be lurking around for you to attempt again and again. Whether you're a seasoned crypt keeper of the cybersecurity world or a curious newcomer, there's a fright waiting for everyone in this immersive capture-the-flag experience! For those souls who embraced the horror and loved every spine-tingling moment, keep an eye on the community next week and be the first to hear the eerie whispers about our brand new Lab Challenge Series launching Monday 4th!Cybersecurity and philosophy
Fellow members of the Cyber family: I think the ancient philosophers, those who recognized their own ignorance, were motive: their curiosity to learn, to question, to go a step further, to not settle ... I would like to think that these qualities defined great thinkers. And may we never lose the ability to recognize and be surprised, in the face of threats; studying them, always. I have always believed that a “let's talk” can be more enriching than a “I denounce you”: learning, if possible, from the adversary and his geniuses. And, of course, let's keep learning: every day: tactics, techniques, procedure and vectors. Nobody said this was going to be easy, did they? :). Good luck!.🎄 Christmas Crisis Sim Showdown! Vote for Your Favourite! 🎄
Is it too early to mention the C word?... No, never! We're excited to announce that we'll be producing a brand new Christmas-themed crisis simulation, but we need your help to choose which one will make it to the top! Simply comment below with your preferred crisis sim scenario (A, B or C) and share why you think your pick deserves the spotlight. The winning crisis sim will be produced by our very own JonPaulGabriele and will be unveiled in December! Here are the contenders on the nice list: A) Christmas Tree-son 🎄 Cybersecurity nightmare at the North Pole! A disgruntled elf has leaked confidential data, exposing sensitive information about Santa's operations, the Naughty & Nice list, and what life is really like at the North Pole. The culprit has been identified, but their motives remain unclear. Can you manage the fallout, protect Santa's reputation, and secure the North Pole's digital infrastructure before Christmas spirit is irreparably damaged? B) Snow Way Out! ☃️ A freak winter storm has brought the world to a standstill. Businesses are closed, transport networks are ground to a halt, and communities are cut off. Can you coordinate emergency response efforts, ensure the safety of vulnerable populations, and keep essential services running in the face of this unprecedented weather event? C) Elf and Safety Crisis 🎁 A whistle-blower threatens to shatter the illusion of Santa's Workshop. Allegations of unsafe working conditions, unethical toy production, and overworked elves have surfaced, putting Santa's reputation and Christmas deliveries at risk. Can you investigate the claims, address the concerns, and restore public trust before the holiday spirit is extinguished? 🗳️ Now it’s your turn! Which simulation should we produce? Voting is open NOW and will end on Friday 8th November... Make your voice heard and make this a crisis-mas not to forget! 🎅✨Beyond the Gap: Why Neurodivergent Minds Are Cyber's Future
Neurodiversity advocate and my own personal hero, Chris Packham, recently made a series for the BBC titled Inside Our Minds. It focused on giving a voice to neurodivergent individuals by creating short films to explain how their minds work. During the episode on dyslexia, Chris visited GCHQ to discover why dyslexic people were being actively recruited for their pattern recognition and analytical skills. They discussed how a neurodiverse workforce (made up of both neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals) enabled them to solve more complex and wide-ranging problems. In particular, they highlighted how dyslexic people make ideal “analysts for the modern era”: “Their strengths include pattern recognition when dealing with big data, seeing the bigger picture when considering complex future scenarios, and finding solutions to novel and challenging problems.” – Dyslexic thinking skills are mission-critical for protecting the country, gchq.gov.uk. Identifying as neurodivergent The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)’s Decrypting Diversity 2021 report stated that 19% of industry professionals identify as neurodivergent – higher than the estimated 10% of the UK population. Neurodivergence encompasses a range of conditions including, but not limited to: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Dyspraxia Dyslexia Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Tourette Syndrome Cybersecurity appears to be a well-suited career path for neurodivergent individuals, due to several cognitive strengths that are valued in the field. These include: High attention to detail Pattern recognition The ability to hyperfocus Persistence Creative and innovative thinking With a much-publicised cybersecurity skills gap, are neurodivergent minds the answer to this? Removing barriers to entry in cybersecurity At Immersive, we partner with charities and organisations that support the neurodivergent community with access to our Cyber Million program. The program provides free access to hands-on cyber exercises for anyone over 16 years old, helping them build the necessary skills for a career in cybersecurity and remove barriers to entry. As an organisation, we also have many neurodivergent employees, including myself. Each person brings a unique skill set and perspective to their role. As a user researcher, seeing patterns in both qualitative and quantitative data, a strong ability to remember details and sequences, and an independent and creative way of thinking, all help me to do my job better. In addition to my day job, I also chair Immersive’s DEI Committee, which focuses on advocacy, education, and safe spaces for all. Many of our DEI events have spotlighted neurodiversity, with both external speakers and panels of Immersers sharing their stories. Get involved While we try our best, we acknowledge that our platform and content will likely pose some obstacles for the neurodivergent community. So, I want to know: Have you encountered any issues? What do you see as something that could be improved? If you see an issue or bug on the platform, you can post in our community Help Forum or contact our Customer Support team. They’ll investigate and get back to you with any feedback or resolution. If you’d like to give more general feedback on your experience of Immersive as (or on behalf of) a neurodivergent individual and have suggestions for improvements, please fill out this survey. I’ll compile this feedback and present it to relevant teams who may use it for feature prioritisation. As a thank you, we’ll provide a £10 (or local currency equivalent) eGift Card for all correctly completed surveys (limited to one per person). In a world that may not have been designed for them, neurodivergent individuals are forging paths in industries such as cybersecurity. Immersive wants to make sure that they’re not only heard and included, but have all the skills and opportunities to lead the way and Be Ready.Cool post about a Women's Cybersecurity Academy graduate
I saw this one on LinkedIn and found her post so inspiring. Yes - I work for Immersive - but continue to be impressed with stories like these where our product has helped someone move forward in their career. I also love that she was able to share badges to highlight her progress and share it with her network! Nice story to share on a Friday. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ilytrevino_today-i-got-to-celebrate-my-graduation-from-activity-7257571313131692032-_pYm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktopGive us your feedback on our new AI scenario generator
We are looking for some feedback on our Exercising features and would love to hear from our community of users! Are you someone who creates Crisis Sims? Our new AI scenario generator will be released on 12 November and we would love to hear what you think about it! If so, come along to a call with Immersive’s Product Manager, Emma, and UX Researcher, Pamela to answer a few questions about your experience and give us your feedback on these features. What we’ll cover: Other than having used the AI scenario generator, no further preparation is needed for the call. We’ll be delving into your current Exercising usage, needs and expectations, and any issues you’ve encountered along the way. This will be fed back to our team and potentially lead to feature enhancements or new feature development. Between 18 November - 17 December, we will be running calls over Google Meet, lasting up to 45 minutes. Want to influence our future product? Book in a call at a time that suits you, using this link or comment below to find out more. ✨Check out Emma’s blog post Feature Focus: Introducing the AI Scenario GeneratorLoved the Puppet Master's Revenge? Get ready for what's next!
The recording of Puppet Master's Revenge webinar is now up and ready for you to check out. Whether you missed it or just want to refresh your memory, it's all there for you, and if you're keen to dive deeper into crisis simulations, we have something just for you! This Friday, come behind the curtain with JonPaulGabrieleauthor of Puppet Master's Revenge, for our LIVE webinar, Crisis Ready: Mastering the Design and Execution of Simulation for Real-World Resilience This is a great chance to level up your skills to design and execute impactful crisis simulations, and also put your burning questions to our expert panel, featuring JonPaulGabriele TomBoyle & ClemCraven Don’t miss out— register your attendance, submit your questions, and we can’t wait to see you there!CSM Tip: Have A Summer Series! Are YOU Taking Advantage Of Summer?
Being the comedian I am, I was going to title this tip “Have Your Own Personal Summer series” but I didn’t want the core message of this idea to get lost in my wacky humor. Working with customers over the years across the globe, I’ve seen a trend. What is that trend? People on the team take their annual holidays to enjoy the weather, spend time with their families when the kids are out of school, spend more time in the fresh air away from screens, etc. Thus, structured programs and large projects wane a little bit as opposed to the fervor that resumes as autumn hits. One of the ways customers overcome this and stick to their personal growth and development plans as well as the broad organizational/department plans is to host “Summer Series”. What is that you say? Well, it is sometimes a large group activity or challenge over the summer (have you checked out the challenge labs in the Exercise section of Immersive?) Or, it’s a weekly/biweekly/monthly “workshop” drop in session that team members can attend (when they are not on their well-earned annual holidays) to learn more on a topic (come on, I KNOW you want to learn more about cutting edge topics like secure coding in the age of integrated LLM in your apps and systems). So, be the voice on your team to suggest this or, like my wacky idea for a tip topic suggests, implement your own Personal Summer series. You will be glad you did.
