Mimecast has acquired cloud-based cybersecurity training and awareness platform Ataata, which combines training with predictive analytics to reduce human error in the workplace and change the security culture of employees.
The acquisition, announced today (10 July), will allow Mimecast customers to measure cyber risk training effectiveness by “converting behaviour observations into actionable risk metrics for security professionals.” The announcement adds: “The addition of security awareness training and risk scoring and analysis strengthens Mimecast’s cyber resilience for email capabilities.”
According to research that Mimecast conducted with Vanson Bourne, 90% of organisations have seen phishing attacks increase over the last year, yet only 11% continuously train employees on how to spot cyberattacks. This spans organisations of all segments and sizes including major airlines, government, healthcare – or any other industry. Training is considered hard to implement as these organisations often lack resources and the right content to help raise the awareness of what to spot.
The acquisition of Ataata will offer customers a single, cloud platform that is engineered to mitigate risk and reduce employee security mistakes by calculating employee security risk based on sentiment and behaviour while connecting them with relevant training that is content based on their score and recommended areas for improvement. The solution is designed to allow security teams to dial up security settings at the employee level by leveraging real-world data to train employees to spot threats that are targeting them today.
“Cybersecurity awareness training has traditionally been viewed as a check the box action for compliance purposes, boring videos with PhDs rambling about security or even less than effective gamification which just doesn’t work. As cyberattacks continue to find new ways to bypass traditional threat detection methods, it’s essential to educate your employees in a way that changes behaviour,” said Peter Bauer, chief executive officer and founder of Mimecast.
“According to a report from Gartner1, ‘the security awareness computer-based training market will grow to more than $1.1 billion by year-end 2020.’ The powerful combination of Mimecast’s cyber resilience for email capabilities paired with Ataata’s employee training and risk scoring will help customers enhance their cyber resilience efforts.”
Mimecast has raised over $90m in funding across five funding rounds from investors including Index Ventures – which recently raised a $1.65bn tech investment fund – as well as Dawn Capital and Insight Venture Partners.
Ataata has raised $3m in a Series A funding round in December 2017 from investors including SaaS Ventures and Next Frontier Capital.
The terms of this deal are undisclosed.