Living Security - Startup of the Year

Company: Living Security, Austin, TX
Entry Submitted By:The Dialog Lab
Company Description: Living Security's helps prevent cybersecurity attacks by turning employees from vulnerabilities into strengths. Living Security believes empowering people is the key to ending breaches. Gamified learning and immersive experiences engage and educate users, while the science-backed, tech-enabled platform uniquely provides CISOs the ability to measure effectiveness and program ROI.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Startup of the Year - Business Services Industries

Nomination Title: Living Security

Living Security was founded in 2017 by CEO Ashley Rose and her husband Drew to revolutionize cybersecurity training. Companies are facing a larger threat from cybercriminals than ever before with ransomware and other attacks increasing in high volumes. Yet, many enterprises still invest little in security awareness training, providing employees only with enough education to meet compliance requirements. Employees are then blamed for breaches, when in reality they haven’t received the proper training. Living Security provides a human risk management solution that mitigates risk by truly changing user behavior. The company takes a scientific approach to training, creating immersive learning experiences that are 16 times more effective than traditional learning platforms. In addition, CISOs utilizing the platform are given the data they need to know that training is truly having a measurable impact on their security culture. In the four years since the company’s inception, Living Security has raised more than $20 million for product development and has more than doubled its customer count. More than 100 enterprises now rely on Living Security’s platform, including CVS Health, MasterCard, Verizon, MassMutual, Biogen, AmerisourceBergen, Hewlett Packard, JP Morgan and Target.

When Covid-19 hit and shut down a majority of workplaces, Living Security had to quickly pivot from a solely in-person training program to a virtual platform. In just six weeks, the company brought customers an online solution. CyberEscape Online is the first fully remote, team-based cybersecurity training platform on the market. Cybersecurity threats have also been on the rise, with remote working and learning creating new opportunities for phishing and malware attacks. Living Security’s state-of-the-art analytics and reporting have allowed companies to identify threats in real-time, educating end-users to make better decisions and optimizing risk management. In addition to its state-of-the-art training platform, the company now provides customers with an entire suite of human risk management solutions including a phishing simulation tool.

Living Security has both tripled revenue and employee headcount three years in a row. The company closed a $14 million Series B round in March 2021, and is using the funding to develop new products including its new human risk management platform, Unify, which will launch later this year. The platform uses behavioral data and analytics to spot vulnerabilities, ultimately predicting where attacks might occur so that companies can stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.

Unlike traditional cybersecurity training programs that simply tell users how to maintain better security, Living Security’s platform employs experiential learning to show users how to make the best security decisions. The company’s computer-based security awareness programs deliver interactive training via videos and puzzles to reinforce concepts and keep employees engaged. Gamification is used to allow users to actively participate and earn points to climb up a leaderboard, with recognition and rewards for making good cybersecurity decisions. 94% of employees who’ve completed Living Security training prefer it over their prior cybersecurity training, and 100% say they feel more confident recognizing and reacting to cybersecurity threats. In addition, with Living Security's unique platform, security professionals are able to easily sort and select multiple, complete compliance campaigns for any group, based on role, risk or experience and then easily identify and manage risk based on behavior. With weaknesses and strengths accurately measured, potential gaps predicted and isolated, Living Security’s innovative individual and team training programs create proven, lasting change in user behavior where competitors fall short.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials

https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/30/living-security-raises-14m-for-predicitive-human-risk-management/

https://www.livingsecurity.com/amerisourcebergen-case-study

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSeLhg-sHcs

https://www.livingsecurity.com/