Kaspersky launches Interactive Protection Simulation multiplayer update with new chat features

Kaspersky has launched an update of Kaspersky Interactive Protection Simulation (KIPS) — game-based training that presents a software simulation of the real impact of malware and other attacks on business performance and revenue. KIPS has the power to make players think strategically, anticipate the consequences of an attack, and respond accordingly within time and money constraints. With the update of online KIPS, clients can also choose attacks from the library, play the game several times with different scenarios, create voice chats online, as well as collect and compare the results to previous training sessions.

According to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breaches Investigations Report, the number of ransomware breaches in 2022 increased by 13 percent — more than in the last five years combined, with 82 percent of breaches involving a human element, including social attacks and errors.

Although business executives and managers understand the importance of cybersecurity, for many CISOs it’s still difficult to engage C-suite teams in the training process. Often there is a lack of understanding between IT and non-IT staff: as Kaspersky research shows, 98 percent of business leaders and non-IT respondents have faced at least one IT security miscommunication, and 62 percent of managers admit it led to at least one cybersecurity incident as a result. Basic training or the same approach as for all other employees doesn’t work for C-levels — they require a special format and a special presentation that will allow them to see the relation to the business.

KIPS, licensed by leading education authorities such as the SANS Institute, training has already been completed by companies from more than 75 countries. Kaspersky product updates include new functionality that opens wider possibilities for enterprises. New improved online game functionality allows clients to personalize the game scenario by choosing and combining different types of attacks from the library. This functionality allows companies to play the same industry scenario multiple times, keeping players interested with different combinations of attacks.

Every scenario and attack played is based on real-life cases. Each scenario demonstrates the cybersecurity’s true role in terms of business continuity and profitability, highlighting emerging challenges and threats as well as the typical mistakes that organizations make when building up their defenses.

The online version allows users to play with a large number of participants in almost any convenient place, and is also possible for users to create separate voice chats for teams, so different groups will not hear each other’s discussions. This is especially useful for distributed teams when it is difficult to gather in the same office for an offline game. Other opportunities relate to the personalization of scenarios and the possibility to obtain statistics on the choice of players, data on the actions of teams in certain situations, and the comparison of the actions of players in relation to the previous game.

“Сybersecurity education programs and training continue to gain popularity with companies of all sizes. According to our recent IT Security Economics research, 36 percent of Enterprises and 30 percent of SMBs plan to adopt services for security education in the next 12 months. The programs where training and the cybersecurity culture are driven by C-level managers are usually the most effective. KIPS is a product that conveys to decision-makers the need to pay close attention to cybersecurity in the organization in a simple and understandable way. Through this training we help CISOs to engage C-suite executives in cybersecurity, make them see the connection between business revenue and cybersecurity, as well as increase cooperation and mutual understanding between CEO, IT security, IT and Business managers,” comments Alexey Malnev, Head of Services and Education Product Line at Kaspersky.

More information about Kaspersky Interactive Protection Simulation is available here.