Dentons

Making a dent in cyber security

With the average cost of a data breach reaching £4.35 million and cyberattacks occurring every 39 seconds, global businesses face unprecedented security risks. Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, recognised a need to better support their clients in mitigating these threats. They partnered with Atomic to develop an innovative, engaging solution to educate business users on cyber security. The result: a first-of-its-kind gamified training app that transforms traditional security awareness into a dynamic and immersive learning experience.
A person holds a smartphone displaying an app with a purple screen titled Introduction, describing a data breach scenario game. Their finger is about to tap a blue Next button. A cup and saucer are in the background.
Close-up of a computer screen displaying colorful lines of JavaScript code on a dark background, highlighting syntax such as variables, functions, and conditional statements.
Three smartphone screens on a dark background show a phishing scam: a warning message, a fake voice call with audio waves, and a chat with someone posing as a contact, asking for a financial transfer.

The challenge

Making cyber security training engaging and effective

Despite the increasing frequency and cost of cyberattacks, only 38% of companies feel adequately prepared to defend themselves.

Dentons saw an opportunity to help bridge this gap through education, but needed a method that would go beyond generic e-learning modules.

The goal was to create an interactive experience that would engage users and simulate the high-stakes decisions of a real data breach scenario, helping companies build true preparedness across their teams.

A hand holds a smartphone displaying a screen with four options for a decision, including “Alert the IT Director,” “Pay the ransom,” “Call the police and/or the regulators,” and “Assume the email you received is fake and don’t respond.”.

The solution

A gamified, real-world cyber security simulation

Atomic designed and developed the world’s first gamified cyber-security training app for business users.

Built around the principles of gamification, the app places users in the middle of a high-pressure, real-world security breach simulation. Through interactive elements such as email, voicemail, instant messaging, and video, players must respond to unfolding threats and make critical decisions under pressure.

At the end of the scenario, users receive a personalised performance score and actionable feedback to help improve future decision-making.

The outcome

Industry disruption and continuous innovation

The app’s innovative approach caused significant industry buzz upon launch, quickly gaining traction among Dentons’ client base and leading to several new iterations.

The simulation closely mirrors real-life communication channels and cyber-attack vectors, making it an impactful training tool. Designed to be more than a one-off experience, the app now forms the basis of an evolving learning platform, with post-game feedback reports designed to integrate into long-term employee development plans.

Its growing adoption reflects a shift toward experiential learning as the new standard in enterprise cyber awareness.

Two mobile screens display a cybersecurity scenario app. The first screen asks the user to choose a response to a breach. The second shows a congratulatory message with a bar chart of a companys shareholder value.

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