Radford U Replaces Instructor-Led Security Training with Awareity SaaS-Based Program

Radford University in Radford, VA has implemented a safety and security training program from Awareity. Managed Ongoing Awareness & Trust (MOAT) encompasses security modules as well as tracking and reporting that enables the institution to document who has taken the training. At Radford, which has about 9,500 students, that includes faculty, employees, supervisors, vendors, contractors, and suppliers. The goal of the training is to help faculty, staff, and external participants better understand their roles and responsibilities and comply with new and updated regulations. MOAT also delivers specific and situational awareness to improve overall campus preparedness.

MOAT modules being used by Radford U cover cyber security risks; viruses, spyware, crimeware, and bots; Internet safety; e-mail and password security, information disposal, mobile device usage, and identity theft. The training programs, which are customized to the role of the participant, are tracked and documented so administrators can generate reports on preparedness metrics.

According to Jackie McNabb, director of enterprise systems, the university chose MOAT to fulfill audit requirements mandating that the entire campus be trained by the end of the year. The previous system, she said, involved instructor-led training. When that instructor left the university, "We weren't sure how long it was going to take to replace him, so we decided that MOAT could get us to where we needed to be with our security awareness program."

Besides cyber security, MOAT modules also cover campus safety and emergency preparedness, incident reporting, pandemic flu planning, ethics, and compliance, among other topics.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • digital data protection and cyber security

    White House Launches New AI Security Framework

    President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order aimed at maintaining United States AI leadership while addressing the security risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.

  • workshop participants discuss sustainability in open science and research

    Open Source: Advancing Our Digital Commons

    IT leaders are recognizing the benefits of a return to open strategies. CT asked Jack Suess, VP of IT and CIO at UMBC, for his views on returning to the digital commons of open source.

  • Student classroom scene with diverse learners attentively engaging in lecture, using laptops

    The AI Literacy Gap No One Expected

    While Gen Z may be advanced at generating quick outputs or using free LLMs for surface-level tasks, they need to develop critical thinking, communication, and analysis skills.

  • Digital Network of User Profiles and Data Connections

    Microsoft, RSA Make Identity Security Push in the Age of AI

    Two of the bigger authentication announcements to come out of the recent RSA Conference both point in the same direction: Organizations need a more flexible, unified approach to identity security, especially as AI agents start acting alongside human workers.