Goldman Sachs is to use the browser-based cyber training platform Immersive Labs’ to provide cyber security teams with purpose-built scenarios. The investment bank intends to then deploy the virtual learning platform among its 8,000 developers and potentially other types of workers across the firm to aid cyber resiliency.
Immersive Labs is a UK company that offers cloud-based cyber training and assessment. Founded by ex-GCHQ cyber skills trainer James Hadley and chaired by ex-GCHQ director general, Robert Hannigan, Immersive Labs’ gamified platform is now being used in Deloitte, Grant Thornton and BAE Systems.
Andy Ozment, Chief Information Security Officer and Head of Tech Risk at Goldman Sachs, said: “There is a critical shortage of cyber professionals across the globe which makes it difficult for organisations to find talented individuals and puts added pressures on existing cyber professionals to keep their skills sharp. Immersive Labs provides an innovative solution for training and identifying new cyber professionals and honing the skills of existing ones.”
The cyber firm describes its platform as kinesthetic, that addresses the skills shortage in a dynamic, hands-on and engaging way without classroom-based learning.
James Hadley, CEO of Immersive Labs, said: “The best of the best cyber talent likes to learn; however, they don’t like to be taught. The cyber skills shortage is one of the largest problems facing the technology sector today, and as a result attackers are winning. We realised that if we wanted to fix this at scale, it was not something that could be done in a classroom as it just doesn’t appeal to the people we are trying to reach. It needs to be fun, engaging and ongoing, so we took a disruptive approach to the market.”
The platform can run in any internet browser; the online labs allow cyber security teams of all sizes to compete against one another in games which develop such cyber skills as malware analysis, digital forensics and ethical hacking. It also provides CISOs and CIOs with actionable data on how security teams are performing, allowing for better insight into their capabilities while helping them to discover previously hidden talent.
Hadley noted that the culture of competition had encouraged high levels of participation by technical staff at ImmersiveLabs’ other corporate clients. He said: “A lot of our heavy users use the platform on Friday and Saturday night because they want to be at the top of the leader board come Monday morning. To be working with companies with the credibility of Goldman Sachs is a significant point of validation for the team and reinforces our gamified approach to actively increasing interest in cyber security as a career path and keeping current cyber professionals at the top of their games.” Visit Immersivelabs.com.
