Wombat Awards: A Year in Review

It’s been a busy year for us here at Wombat Security — and we’re grateful you’ve been connecting with us and sharing our news and vision for security awareness training. This year, we were honored to receive a number of awards and accolades, including two relatively recent recognitions: In October, we announced that Gartner had recognized us — for the second year in a row — as the clear leader in the 2015 Magic Quadrant for Security Awareness Computer-Based Training Vendors. And just last month we shared our inclusion on Deloitte’s North America Technology Fast 500™; ranked 104th, we were the fastest-growing Pennsylvania company on the list.

But these are just two of the honors we received this year. As we approach the close of 2015, we wanted to take this opportunity to look back and thank those organizations that recognized our efforts to deliver leading-edge cyber security assessments and education to end users around the globe:

Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards

In conjunction with the RSA® Conference 2015, Wombat won two Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards: a Gold in the Security Training and Educational Programs category and a Silver for Customer Service Department of the Year, which honored our well-known reputation for excellent customer support.

Rake Narang, editor-in-chief of Info Security Products Guide, said, "We're pleased to see Wombat receive these awards and applaud their success in helping companies take proactive measures against increasing cyber security attacks with a highly effective security training platform that changes end-user behavior.”

Cyber Defense Magazine 2015

Cyber Defense Magazine, a leading electronic information security magazine and media partner of the RSA Conference 2015, recognized Wombat with a Cyber Defense Award for Most Innovative Security Training Solution 2015.

Commenting on Wombat’s win, Cyber Defense Magazine’s editor-in-chief Pierluigi Paganini remarked, “We’re thrilled to recognize next-generation innovation in the information security marketplace and that’s why Wombat has earned this award from Cyber Defense Magazine. Some of the best INFOSEC defenses come from these kinds of progressive players who think outside of the box.”

CIOReview’s 20 Most Promising Enterprise Security Companies 2015

In its April issue, CIOReview included Wombat in its 20 Most Promising Enterprise Security Companies 2015. The companies included in this year’s list were selected by a panel of CIOs, CEOs, venture capitalists, analysts, and the CIOReview editorial board.

The list highlighted a select group of organizations that “provide uniquely effective approaches to enterprise security threats.” CIOReview also indicated in its write-up that it believes the companies on the list “have achieved significant momentum and will rise above the rest.”

Cybersecurity Ventures’ Cybersecurity 500

Cybersecurity Ventures included Wombat on its Cybersecurity 500, a global list of hot companies to watch in 2015. In explaining the selection criteria for the list, Steve Morgan, founder and CEO of Cybersecurity Ventures and editor-in-chief of the Cybersecurity 500, said, “We continuously look at thousands of companies for inclusion in the Cybersecurity 500, by soliciting feedback from CISOs, IT security practitioners and service providers, and researching hundreds of cybersecurity events and news sources that we follow.”

2015 Pennsylvania Governor’s ImPAct Award

Wombat was one of 50 Pennsylvania companies recognized with a 2015 Governor’s ImPAct Award, winning the Small Business Impact Award in the state’s Southwest region. We received the award because of our continued dedication to creating jobs, boosting the economy, and developing our workforce while enhancing methodologies used to educate end users, thus making Pennsylvania and the global marketplace more secure places to do business.

Wombat was nominated for the award by the Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance (PREP) network; the awards were sponsored by the state’s private sector partner, Team Pennsylvania Foundation, and were coordinated by Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), Team Pennsylvania Foundation (Team PA), and Journal Multimedia.

Multiple Finalist Categories

In addition to the awards we won, we were also a finalist for a number of highly prestigious awards, including the following:

• Advisen Cyber Risk Awards, Cyber Service Vendor of the Year
• 2015 SC Awards Europe, Best Professional Training or Certification Program
• 2015 SC Awards U.S., Best IT Security-related Training Program

In Appreciation of a Successful 2015

“It is extremely rewarding to receive these industry accolades and it further demonstrates the value that Wombat customers and industry experts see in our solution,” said Joe Ferrara, Wombat President and CEO. “In today’s market, employee awareness and education plays a critical role in preventing a range of cyber attacks, which continue to increase in volume and sophistication. Our methods continue to prove that a continuous training methodology can change employee behavior and reduce risk within an organization."

As we look ahead to 2016, we don’t intend to rest on our laurels. Our goal is to continue to be the leading provider of cyber security assessments and interactive training. We will also continue to innovate in this space in an effort to give our customers access to the most effective, results-oriented tools for reducing user-related risk and changing employee behaviors.

Wombat’s own Amy Baker recently spoke with 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s National Public Radio station about the importance of good cyber hygiene and our approach to security awareness and training. Listen to the segment and share with your end users to promote best practices in and out of the office.