Barracuda Networks Inc. has introduced a new version of its PhishLine security awareness training solution specifically for midsize businesses.
Tailored to organizations with under 1,000 employees, the new and slimmed down PhishLine SKU extends the range of offerings in a portfolio that now includes multiple editions scaled and priced appropriately for different sized organizations.
Campbell, Calif.-based Barracuda acquired the former PhishLine LLC and its SaaS-based social engineering simulation and training platform in January. PhishLine products combine multivariable attack simulations across email, text message, voice, and USB/mobile media with data capture, analytics, and reporting functionality as well as ongoing user performance assessments to help employees recognize phishing attacks.
“As phishing attacks have become increasingly stealthy and targeted, our adversaries have shifted their focus from the largest organizations to smaller targets,” said Hatem Naguib, senior vice president and general manager of security at Barracuda, in a press statement. “Today’s announcement expands our PhishLine portfolio, by building on our enterprise grade offering with a solution aimed specifically at simplicity and fast time to value, fit for today’s resource-constrained midsized businesses.”
Barracuda unveiled an edition of PhishLine that rewards end users for getting better at resisting phishing emails, instead of chastising them for falling victim to simulated attacks, in April during the RSA security conference in San Francisco.
While fully 100 percent of respondents to a recent Barracuda research study affirmed that user training is an important element of security planning, only 77 percent actually provide training.
Meanwhile, ransomware was involved 39 percent of detected malware variants last year, according to the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, making it the most common type of malicious software in circulation. Phishing is the number one technique hackers use to get ransomware past an organization’s defensive perimeter, and most security experts agree that end user education is the key to defeating phishing attacks.
The critical role of awareness training in complete security strategies has motivated other security vendors to buy or build anti-phishing products. Sophos Ltd., for example, rolled out a product in January 2017. Webroot Inc., for its part, acquired security awareness training vendor Securecast last August and recently announced plans to integrate the Securecast solution with its DNS security offering.
Security user education training vendor Secure Now!, of Morristown, N.J., added functionality that measures an employee’s vulnerability to phishing attacks and other security risks last month.
