CUSTOMER STORIES | WAIROA DISTRICT COUNCIL
Building a culture of cyber security and privacy resilience at Wairoa District Council
The team at Wairoa District Council has always believed that cyber security and privacy training should be provided in every workplace.
Since introducing SafeStack’s Security and Privacy Awareness program, they’ve seen their team building confidence around cyber security, as well as increasing their productivity and mental wellbeing associated with knowing how to implement cyber security practices in their daily workflows.
“With so much of our day-to-day work being done online, cyber security and privacy education and training should be commonplace in any digital working environment.”
Hanif Deylami
Cyber Security and Network Engineer, Wairoa District Council
Wairoa District Council is headquartered in Wairoa, New Zealand. Wairoa District is a territorial authority district in the North Island, which falls within the Hawke’s Bay Region.
Apart from councilors, there are over 100 staff at Wairoa District Council, and the organization currently has 100 users enrolled in SafeStack’s Security and Privacy Awareness program.
Choosing the right program for their team
Hanif Deylami, Cyber Security and Network Engineer at Wairoa District Council, first heard about SafeStack at the Auckland Chapter of ISACA, an organization dedicated to learning and career progression for the global community of IT professionals.
Since SafeStack offers people-focused online training programs which are fear-free and aimed at changing behavior in the workplace to protect organizations and their people, it felt like the right fit for the Wairoa District Council team.
I see the potential SafeStack training programs have to help us to build a culture of cyber security and privacy resilience.
Hanif Deylami, Cyber Security and Network Engineer
The leadership team at Wairoa District Council believes people are not cyber security problems; they’re a solution to these problems. They also trust that cyber security training is vital for staff to understand the security risks their business faces online and to develop their mental resilience in being vigilant and taking swift action against cyber-attacks.
Changing perspective on phishing simulation tools
More and more organizations recognize the importance of teaching employees and customers best practices for identifying and avoiding cyber threats like phishing.
Hanif shared with SafeStack that while phishing simulation tools offer charts and diagrams to show you how your team is responding to the simulations, the overall method isn’t enough to help staff understand cyber security challenges and how to handle them.
Some organizations are beginning to adopt a culture of blaming their staff when it comes to cyber security issues. We want to take a different approach, and my findings suggest that the right training method will positively impact behavior change, productivity, and psychological wellbeing.
Hanif Deylami, Cyber Security and Network Engineer
Supporting mental wellbeing across the team
The leadership team at Wairoa District Council had noticed their people were feeling anxious about cyber security, so they were looking for an online training program that would mitigate this by keeping employees up to date with the latest cyber security and privacy training, including learning about attack methods and how to protect themselves.
I found it was possible with SafeStack to learn about cyber security in a simple way, when I was scared to even think about it before.
SafeStack Learner, Wairoa District Council
They’ve seen excellent results across the team, including a noticeable reduction in the stress their staff were feeling about cyber security.
Process of introducing the programs
Wairoa District Council introduced the Security and Privacy Awareness training program to their team by sending out SafeStack’s training guidelines in the Council’s internal cyber security and privacy newsletter.
The staff also regularly received internal emails with updates on the course goals, vision, and objectives, and the training courses were discussed in monthly Council meetings.
Features enjoyed by everyone
The staff at Wairoa District Council appreciate SafeStack’s short and engaging courses, as well as their simple yet effective explanations of cyber security concepts and terms.
The user-friendly graphics, videos, quizzes, outstanding visual animation, and certificates for course completion make the learning experience for the whole team fun and engaging.
SafeStack has been one of the best training course experiences one could ask for. I will share my learning experience with my kids and whānau.
SafeStack Learner, Wairoa District Council
Hanif also mentioned that all of the course material is well-organized, and their team is impressed with SafeStack’s customer service in delivering what the staff at Wairoa District Council need and following up on every piece of feedback they give.
SafeStack’s training programs help the team build self-esteem and confidence in taking ownership of cyber security and privacy challenges in their daily work. This is supported by the training giving learners actionable steps they can take in various work-related situations they might find themselves in.
We’re happy to be supporting Wairoa District Council to deliver a high-quality cyber security and privacy education program so they can continue building confidence in best practices and trends across the organization.