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10 proven strategies for cultivating a security aware culture – CyberTalk
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
A security aware culture is essential when it comes to ensuring both stronger cyber security and better business outcomes. As security awareness increases, the probability of a breach (and corresponding business fallout) declines.
But security aware cultures don’t create themselves – they don’t happen organically. Cyber security leaders need to invent the culture through strategic and measured initiatives.
Advance your cyber security. Keep your organization as secure as possible. Leverage the following insights to establish (or refine) your security aware culture.
Cultivating a security aware culture
1. Know your company. Aim to anchor a cyber security culture within the existing company culture. Ensure that corporate values serve as cornerstones of your security culture. Create tailored programs that engage employees and that lead the C-suite to perceive you as attuned to your unique workplace.
2. Start with a cultural assessment. In building a security aware culture, start by examining the congruence (or lack thereof) between the corporate culture and everyday actions around cyber security. In the vast majority of cases, there’s a disconnect between the two.
A cultural assessment will clarify the gaps between corporate cultural norms and security best practices. An assessment should include one-on-one interviews with people across all levels and functions of the organization, research regarding existing security practices, and group discussions.
3. Communicate effectively. Once you’ve determined where gaps exist between the corporate culture and the (ideal) security culture, develop means of gradually promoting employee habit change. From a video series, to phishing exercises, to workshops, cyber security leaders have numerous avenues available through which to communicate new messages and to (re)shape workplace practices.
4. Consider regulations. In building a security aware culture and designing new programming, consider which regulatory requirements the company must adhere to. Best practices that are communicated to employees should broadly align with and support regulatory requirements.
5. Strengthen rapport with stakeholders. Ensure that you introduce yourself to all appropriate individuals – either via email or in-person. Ask questions about existing projects and priorities, ensuring that you’re genuinely listening to their concerns. For new cyber security initiatives, get buy-in, as this helps show a united front across the company and can benefit campaigns.
6. Team up with the communications or marketing team. To build a security culture while remaining mindful of employees’ time and attention, collaborate with your internal communications or marketing team on messaging.
They will have a sense of how to create a regular messaging cadence without overwhelming employees. They can also potentially assist with launching surveys, analyzing metrics for you and ensuring messaging alignment with the organization’s brand.
7. Avoid imposing on employees. The security team should be seen as a helpful and supportive bunch. The security team should avoid coming across as a group that pesters, micromanages or intensely imposes on others in regards to security practices. (No one wants to be ambushed by a cyber security analyst about the fact that they’ve used the same password 3X.) Rather, in building a security aware culture, draw people in using welcoming and approachable tactics.
8. Leverage new hire orientations. See if your team can get some face time (the opportunity to run a 20 minute workshop) during new hire training. This allows you to make a positive impression on new employees at the very beginning of their tenure. Importantly, make sure that your Power Point presentation isn’t a snooze.
Explain how the cyber security team serves the organization. Talk about why employees are really the front-line of cyber defense. Provide a preview of what employees should expect in the way of cyber security-related communication and further education.
9. Empower through recognition. Acknowledge and reward employees who take cyber security seriously – those who report phishing incidents, exhibit excellent password hygiene…etc. Promoting positive behaviors among employees generally contributes to improved outcomes, strengthening cyber security measures overall.
10. Measure effectiveness. When you set up security aware culture initiatives, ensure that there is a way to measure the impact of your efforts. Be able to demonstrate a return on investment.
Further thoughts
In addition to elevating your security, a security aware culture can be presented as a competitive advantage. Touting a strong security strategy that includes a culture of security awareness can help position an organization as an industry leader.
It can also result in a ripple effect across other organizations, prompting them to establish security awareness programs. This ultimately strengthens your entire industry’s ecosystem.
For more high-impact articles like this, please see CyberTalk.org’s past coverage. Lastly, subscribe to the CyberTalk.org newsletter for timely insights, cutting-edge analyses and more, delivered straight to your inbox each week.
TMNT Co-creator Kevin Eastman On Why The Last Ronin Is Being Made Into A Game
In 1987, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird developed a storyline for their creation that never came to fruition. Titled “The Last Ronin,” Eastman and Laird envisioned it as the final Turtles story set 30 years in the future. While Eastman and Laird never got around to creating that storyline in the original run of their comics under their company Mirage Studios, the idea stuck with Eastman through the years, and decades later, as part of the franchise’s new life with IDW Publishing, he worked with his longtime collaborator Tom Waltz to bring the idea to the pages of a five-issue miniseries that ran from 2020 to 2022.
The story is bleak and gritty, establishing a universe where the four beloved brothers have been taken out one by one. It’s set in an alternate future where New York has been ravaged by constant battles under the thumb of the fascist grandson of the Shredder, Oroku Hiroto. The last remaining Turtle, bearing the weapons of all four, goes on a quest to avenge his fallen brothers against Hiroto.
One of the central mysteries surrounding the storyline is in regards to which of the brothers is the sole survivor. As the miniseries ended in 2022, the answer is obviously readily available on the internet, but we won’t spoil that here, even though we don’t know if the game will follow the same path as the comic
The Last Ronin was a surprise success and, according to Eastman, brought in fans of the franchise from all eras and walks of life. “It just opened up like a Pandora’s Box of a lot of original fans finding it or maybe fans that were fans back in the day but have not picked up a Turtle thing in years were coming back to it,” he says. “It just had the snowball effect that people that have never read Turtles or even some of the kids that were introduced to the Turtles in the 2012 series […] but have grown past that middle part of the animated series, but they still liked the Turtles but were looking for something older and edgier. It was just right place, right time, and it just clicked and jammed and worked, and we were all like, ‘Wow!'”
Paramount, which now owns the TMNT franchise, wanted to capitalize on the success and acclaim of The Last Ronin by taking it multimedia, but concerns emerged about conflicting with the 2023 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem film. “It was such a clever idea by Paramount and Nickelodeon in the surprising success of The Last Ronin,” Eastman says. “They were already well down the road with the incredible Mutant Mayhem project and everything they wanted to do there, and they said, ‘We’d love to do something with The Last Ronin, but we don’t want to battle each other and take away from [Mutant Mayhem].’ I’d describe Mutant Mayhem as a kids-of-all-ages movie, much like the first Turtle movie that Steve Barron and Jim Henson did. [Paramount] said, ‘Let’s go and adapt it as a video game because we can give it all the edge and all the attitude and intensity that you did in the comic series and even go a bit deeper.'”
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Officially revealed in 2023 through a cryptic teaser trailer, we know very little about TMNT: The Last Ronin. However, we do know that it is being developed by Black Forest Games and published by THQ Nordic for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. While Eastman readily admits he’s not the biggest gamer, he had a hand in many of the early games that many consider the pinnacle of the TMNT franchise in video games and is working with the developers on this title. When I ask him how TMNT: The Last Ronin is coming along, he’s not ready to spill any details, but he’s definitely positive about how the game is coming together.
“Everything I’ve seen – we’ve been interacting with the development crew – and it looks like some of the sets and some of the characters have literally walked right off the pages of the comic,” Eastman says. “So beautiful. So fantastic. And so pretty much every fan of Last Ronin that I’ve talked to is really, seriously pumped, like, ‘We get to have an older version of the Turtles just for us as a video game!'”
Closing out my conversation with Eastman, which was largely focused on the history of the TMNT video games, the co-creator once again circles back to how impressed he is with the progress of TMNT: The Last Ronin, but through the lens of the last several decades of video games. “Adapting The Last Ronin as a video game using the latest and the greatest artisans and writers and coders and technologies, it’s great to see the Turtles being able to adapt into that,” he says. “And if it’s done the way we all hope and the way it’s taking shape, then I think we’ll get to play in this arena for a long time to come, and that’s up to the fans to decide. We’re going to do the best job we can and hope for the best.”
If you’d like to read more from Eastman and others involved with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games over the years, be sure to check out the new issue of Game Informer, which includes a huge feature on the history of TMNT within video games. TMNT: The Last Ronin was officially revealed in 2023 and does not currently have a release window. However, we do know that it is slated to come to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
If you’d like to prepare for this game by reading the source material, TMNT: The Last Ronin is on sale now through IDW Publishing, and TMNT: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution issue #1 is available this week.
Exclusive First Details And Screenshots Of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed
In August 2023, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem arrived in theaters, and, much to the delight of both longtime and newer fans, it was a terrific and fun watch. Just over a month after its theatrical debut, Paramount and Nickelodeon announced that publisher Outright Games and developer A Heartful of Games would be releasing a follow-up video game set in the Mutant Mayhem universe. While it hasn’t had a name to this point, Game Informer can now exclusively confirm that the title is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
The 3D brawler/platformer picks up after the events of Mutant Mayhem; the Turtles have been accepted by society following their heroics against Superfly and his band of mutants. Unfortunately, their dream of attending high school as average, everyday students is suddenly interrupted by a new wave of mutants invading New York City. Featuring an all-original storyline, Mutants Unleashed aims to have the same brand of humor as the 2023 film.
Players take control of the four hero turtles, each with a unique playstyle, as they fight their way through the sewers and streets of New York. Outright Games touts how immersive both the world above and below ground is, as well as the cast of familiar faces for the brothers to meet and fight. As co-op is a massive piece of the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games, players can enjoy two-player local co-op in Mutants Unleashed.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is set to arrive near the end of this year for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. For more info on the other big TMNT video game in development, The Last Ronin, head here for our exclusive interview with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman.
No Rest for the Wicked Preview – Early Access Roadmap And Cerim’s Crucible Endgame Content – Game Informer
No Rest for the Wicked (NRftW) graces Game Informer’s cover this month, and it marks a dramatic shift for Moon Studios for several reasons. For one, it’s an action RPG from the team that gave us two of the best platformers/Metroidvanias ever in Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. You can read all about what the game entails in our digital issue, which is available now. But another huge shift is that NRftW will first launch into Steam Early Access on April 18.
That means everything revealed about the game so far is subject to change depending on player feedback. Moon says it’s not married to any system and is willing to rework something if the community doesn’t enjoy it.
Torn Mage concept art
This is Moon’s first stab at the early access approach, and for a studio that strives for perfection, releasing an intentionally imperfect product for the world to pick apart is a drastic shift. But it also allows Moon to practice what it preaches regarding transparency.
In February 2021, Mahler famously criticized the game industry on ResetEra for how certain studios misrepresent their titles by making them appear bigger or grander pre-release than how they eventually turn out. He called out titles such as Cyberpunk 2077.
When I ask if his sentiments inspired the choice for early access, Korol says no and that Moon originally envisioned releasing NRftW as a traditional finished product. But midway through development, the project’s ambition, the changing attitudes towards early access, as well as growing success stories, made the release model more attractive and sensible for ensuring a quality final product. And for something as idea-laden as NRftW is for Moon, having players help guide and refine its development is invaluable.
“Making a game, it’s almost a little bit like cooking, right?” says Mahler. “Like, you don’t know what is the exact right recipe. You have to make it, let people try it, adjust it.””
Last week’s Wicked Inside presentation saw the team reveal NRftW’s early access roadmap (posted below). Multiplayer will arrive in the game’s first update. As the game evolves, new story chapters will be added alongside more areas of the world. The early access launch includes a substantial section of Isola Sacra, with players able to visit the following zones:
- The Shallows
- Orban Glades
- Sacrament
- Nameless Pass
- The Black Trench
The game’s first story update will unlock three more areas:
- Marin Woods
- Lowland Meadows
- Hunter’s Vale
Expect to learn more about those zones in the future. Having seen the full map of Isola Sacra myself, the island looks huge and dense, and that’s without including unseen elements like interiors, caves, and secrets.
Click to enlarge
ENDGAME CONTENT
As for how Moon plans to keep players coming back to NRftW on the road to its 1.0 launch, it divulged that its endgame content will consist of multiple things to do instead of just a single activity loop. Speaking with Mahler on the subject, the one piece of content he shared is special roguelike dungeons called Cerim’s Crucible (formerly known by their working name “Crypts”). Accessible only after players have wrapped up the available campaign content in the early access build, entering Cerim’s Crucible involves visiting a special zone surrounded by several statues.
Approaching one of them and offering your blood activates that particular statue, which warps players into a randomized dungeon crawl and tasks you to get through 10 randomized rooms to reach the end. Mahler says this structure is inspired by Diablo 1’s Dungeon, in which players fought through 16 increasingly difficult levels to face Diablo at the end. Only one statue is available for the early access launch, but more will be added over time. Each statue will take players into different sets of rooms.
In addition to Diablo, Mahler compares the Crucible’s structure to that of Hades in that each room offers a specific, randomized challenge, which could focus on platforming, combat, or puzzle-solving. You never know what enemies will spawn each run, either. As for what awaits players at the end of the Crucible, Moon is keeping that surprise close to the vest.
Completing Cerim’s Crucible rewards special, exclusive loot and materials required to craft more advanced upgrades, creating incentives to tackle them repeatedly if you want to build the most powerful version of your character. Like everything else, the loot is randomized, so different runs result in different rewards. Eventually, Moon intends to implement stipulations (such as, perhaps, exploring naked) and multipliers to Crucible statues in exchange for greater loot.
You can learn more about No Rest for the Wicked by checking out our features and videos rolling out over the coming weeks in our exclusive coverage hub below.
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