Case Study: Institute of International Education builds a cybersecurity culture with Infosec

How IIE moved mountains to build a culture of cybersecurity

The Institute of International Education (IIE) faced the challenge of moving beyond infrequent, ineffective "Death by PowerPoint" security training and overcoming a cultural deficit of mistrust between its IT staff and the rest of the organization. To build a true culture of cybersecurity and protect the data of its global scholars, IIE partnered with vendor Infosec to re-envision its security awareness program using the Infosec IQ platform.

Infosec's solution provided IIE with a multi-dimensional training approach featuring engaging content like the "Need to Know" video series, quarterly phishing simulations, and supplemental campaigns. By focusing on positive messaging, such as communicating phishing pass rates instead of failure rates, Infosec helped IIE achieve a significant cultural shift. Measurable results included the phishing pass rate increasing from 75% to 94%, and a Cybersecurity Culture Survey showing high marks across all cultural domains, earning IIE an Infosec Inspire Engagement Award.

Institute of International Education

Shannon McPherson

Director of Information Security and Compliance