CyberHeroes: change behavior, reduce risks
A challenge many organisations share is this: how do you move employees from cybersecurity awareness to real behavioural change?
Traditional awareness programs are often generic, focus mainly on knowledge and do not connect with daily practice. As a result, behaviour hardly changes and risks remain. CyberHeroes tackles this problem differently. The programme brings employees into action with an approach that puts behaviour at the center: based on psychology, storytelling and gamification.
Why traditional awareness programs fall short
Commonly used training programs:
- Focus on knowledge transfer rather than driving real behavioural change
- Fail to align with employees' roles, risk profiles, or day-to-day work
- Ignore knowledge levels - content that's too simple disengages, while content that's too complex overwhelms
- Feel obligatory rather than motivating
- Stay too abstract to translate into the organisation's actual practice
The result: low engagement and little sustainable change.
CyberHeroes takes a fundamentally different approach.
Why CyberHeroes works
CyberHeroes was developed by Hero Center and Northwave Cyber Security. That combination gives the program six strong foundations:
1. Gamification that resonates
Storytelling and game elements make learning fun, realistic and effective. Employees step into recognisable scenarios - such as protecting a colleague from phishing - which immediately increases engagement.
2. Always learn at the right level
With four levels, CyberHeroes matches everyone's knowledge and experience. This keeps the training relevant and motivating, and desired behaviour grows step by step in a measurable way.
3. Directly applicable in one's own work practice
CyberHeroes translates cyber-safe behavior into concrete actions in the workplace, such as reporting incidents through one's own hotline and team discussions based on the themes. In this way, behavior is not just isolated training sessions, but is truly embedded.
4. Behavior change as the end goal
The programme focuses on people-related cyber risks and encourages visible, measurable behaviour. Employees develop into CyberHeroes who actively help each other work more safely.
5. Understanding growth and behaviour change
Thanks to the level structure, we deliver data-driven reports on knowledge growth and behaviour. KPIs set together make it possible to measure behavior beyond the platform.
6. Up-to-date expertise from the front lines
Content is continuously updated by Northwave's cybersecurity specialists and aligns with the latest threats. We translate platform data into risks for your organisation and advise on appropriate next steps.
The approach behind CyberHeroes
CyberHeroes was designed by Hero Center, experts in behavioural activation, and fueled by the cyber expertise of Northwave Cyber Security. This results in a unique combination of experience and content.
The activation methodology consists of three steps:
-
You are given a hero's role
Participants step into a story based on the Hero's Journey. -
You practice safely online
Through interactive scenarios, gamification and hands-on assignments. -
You put your role into practice
With missions that elicit and visualize real behavior.
The CyberHeroes programme
1. Introduction: the call to action
Your employees are introduced to their role as a Cyber Hero and invited to take action.
2. Interactive level assessment
The starting level of knowledge, attitude and behaviour is made transparent: without boring questionnaires, but in a way that suits the programme. The grading determines at what level a player starts within a theme. The goal is that each player is challenged at his or her own level, so that the programme never feels like "one size fits none."
3. Five interactive scenario chapters
Key cyber themes come to life in realistic situations:
- Social engineering
- Account security
- Reporting incidents
- Dealing with information
- Installing apps and updates
Each module includes challenges, videos, puzzles and assignments, all presented in gamified form.
4. Ongoing activation campaign
You get an activation toolkit with everything you need to keep employees engaged:
- digital communication (mail, intranet, narrowcasting)
- physical materials (posters, flyers, banners)
- missions for daily activation
- management toolkit for motivation and progress
5. Insight through data & reports
Effective risk management starts with insight. That is why you will periodically receive clear reports that show which risks have been addressed within the themes dealt with and how your organisation is performing in these areas. With concrete KPIs, such as participation, completion and improvement percentages, you will gain direct insight into the progress and impact of the interventions. Together we can also determine behavioural KPIs that can be measured outside the platform, so that you also gain insight into how the behaviour of your employees changes outside the platform. Based on the collected data, we advise you on relevant next steps. Think of additional actions or interventions that are needed to further reduce risks or improve behaviour in a sustainable way.
What does CyberHeroes deliver?
- Intrinsic behavioural change.
Employees take ownership and inspire each other. - Sustainable impact
Cyber-safe behaviour becomes part of the culture, at work and at home. - Measurable progress
You can see exactly what steps employees are taking. - Scalable and flexible
Start quickly or choose customised content, branding and language. - Intergenerational learning
Through the link with HackShield, children can participate at home and become Junior Cyber Agents.
Real-world results
Results with our current clients show how powerful CyberHeroes works:
CyberHeroes within Northwave's vision
CyberHeroes fits seamlessly within Northwave's holistic approach to business, bytes and behavior, where human behaviour is a crucial pillar for strong cyber resilience.
Here's how to get started with CyberHeroes
- Request a demo via our contact form or contact us directly.
- Together we'll see which package suits you.
- Do you opt for Premium? Then we personalise content and activation for your organization.
- After launching, we supervise activation, monitoring and evaluations.
Prefer to contact us directly?
Lisanne Vocke
Account Manager
lisanne.vocke@northwave-cybersecurity.com
