Webroot Acquires Security Awareness Training Platform, Launches Own Service For MSPs And Businesses

Cybersecurity service provider Webroot is expanding its security training offerings for its MSP partners and customers following its acquisition of the assets of Securecast, a developer of a security awareness training platform, and the launch of its own security awareness service.

The new Webroot Security Awareness Training offering, based on the Securecast service, will help businesses reduce the risks and costs of phishing, ransomware and other cyberthreats through end-user education, the company said.

Webroot Security Awareness Training is in beta and will be generally available later in the fall, integrated with the Webroot SecureAnywhere business portfolio.

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Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"The human factor is a consistent weakness in overall cyberdefenses, and security awareness training is the only solution," said Chad Bacher, Webroot's senior vice president of product strategy and technology alliances, in a statement. "As cyberattacks like phishing become increasingly sophisticated, users are exposed to a variety of hidden threats that will compromise their own data along with their employer's data."

Webroot Security Awareness Training, a fully hosted platform, creates phishing simulations and provides a test course to educate an organization's employees and test their awareness of cybersecurity best practices. The phishing simulator includes a template library that MSPs can use to create and launch phishing scenarios, including designing tests relevant to users' specific line of business.

"Building on Securecast, Webroot will offer our MSP partners the security awareness training they need to address this evolving threat landscape and build a profitable new line of business," Bacher said.

Webroot said its own surveys of MSPs and businesses concluded that high-quality and cost-effective IT security awareness training was one of their most needed capabilities. The company's 2017 Quarterly Threat Trends report said that within the past two years 65 percent of businesses experienced as many as 10 cybersecurity incidents, with phishing attacks the most common threat, and 45 percent of businesses reporting security "infections" related to insider negligence.

"Those who closely follow today’s cyberthreats know that an organization’s users are often its weakest link. By acquiring Securecast, Webroot is making the right decision to integrate IT education and awareness training into its products and services," said Doug Cahill, a senior analyst with ESG, in a statement. "Looking ahead, this type of training will be a crucial part of any organization that wants to avoid cyberattacks."