By Espie Angelica A. de Leon
Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab rolled out its Kaspersky Interactive Protection Simulation (KIPS) Online custom-built software in the Philippines as it conducted the first KIPS Online training session on local soil at the Makati Diamond Residences in Makati City on July 17.
Members of the local press participated in the training which involved an interactive game showing how swift action by senior managers in an organization helps solve IT security issues while saving on costs.
KIPS Online is a new addition to the KIPS Live offline cybersecurity training for actionable security intelligence capabilities among top-level corporate executives. It was developed based on Kaspersky Lab?s own experience in the last 20 years.
The simulated training addresses two challenges faced by senior managers: lack of time and the need to react quickly and in coordinated fashion when cybersecurity problems arise. It demonstrates how and why top management should work with security officers when addressing cyber threats and thus, help bring down costs.
?Businesses in the Philippines should be ready to tackle one of the toughest threats in every industry ? cybercrime. We are bringing our KIPS Online in the country to show the corporate workforce the importance of teamwork in incident response and cyber threat mitigation,? said Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia general manager Siang Tiong Yeo.
During the session, participants were divided into four teams and assumed the role of senior managers running a simulated company. The game required them to solve possible cybersecurity problems that may arise in a corporate setting, within time limits and a specified budget to keep the company in sound financial health.
According to Kaspersky?s Corporate IT Security Risks survey, 51% of enterprises surveyed revealed that it is difficult to demonstrate returns on investment in the area of IT security.
During the game, cybersecurity incidents were presented through five overlapping rounds which lasted two hours, simulating corporate scenarios happening with the occurrence of such threats and attacks.
?The goal of KIPS is not to train managers on the threat landscape ? we don?t want to replace security officers,? said Kaspersky?s security awareness program manager Slava Borilin. ?The goal that KIPS fulfills is to help managers cooperate better in the event of a cybersecurity threat and to save money on incident recovery costs.?
KIPS Online and KIPS Live are part of Kaspersky?s Security Awareness Training family which may be requested from Kaspersky Lab and its global resellers so that local companies can train their own senior managers and decision makers.
?KIPS Online keeps the fun in learning how online threat works, how companies should respond to an attack, and how it could be mitigated,? said Yeo.