Department of Housing to send fake phishing emails to staff to see if they fall for scams
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The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is seeking to train around 1,700 of its staff on a cyber security awareness programme, which will involve sending simulated phishing emails to see if workers fall for a bogus scam.
It is seeking contractors to provide training software for staff to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge to protect the department from cyber security threats that could target its infrastructure or data.
The invitation to tender comes a week after the HSE published an independent report into the cyber attack that crippled its network earlier in the year.
The opening of a phishing email allowed the attacker to access the system. The independent report noted that failings within the HSE allowed the attacker to “achieve their objective with relative ease”.
The Department of Housing is seeking a “rich and varied supply of material” to deliver a comprehensive general cyber security programme, that can also be subject-specific and bespoke when required.
The training material must cover all aspects of cyber security, including topics such as ransomware, malware, phishing and identifying email scams, social media financial scams and spotting malicious activity.
It is also seeking to cover topics such as what organisations do to protect assets and what action to take if suspicious communications or technical behaviour is encountered.
The software provided should also cater for users who are visually impaired or have hearing difficulties, the department said.
With most staff working remotely at present and “doing so for the foreseeable future”, the platform must be possible to access irrespective of a staff member’s location.
The department will also seek to have sight of a person’s progress on the training course, when they’ve logged in and the results of their assessments.