Interactive Cybersecurity Experience

Sixty minutes of story with over 80 combinations of decisions leading to 4 endings.

We were asked to create a “choose your own adventure” video to engage mid and upper-level IT security management.  A story about the head of IT security at a large hospital. Of course, on his first day of work, all hell breaks loose.

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What the client needed

Trend Micro asked us to create an interactive video for business, which will be personalized, educational, and sales-driven. Their main goal was to show IT security professionals how complex is the decision-making process, and how one decision can change everything.

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We were asked to:

• simulate real-life situations and consequences in large organizations when it comes to cyber security problems
• educate the viewer on the latest IT security trends and cyber threats
• test their IT and "people" skills
• gather their decision data and integrate with Salesforce (CRM platform)

First of all, educate

One of the main objectives was to give cyber security professionals a broader perspective on the decision-making process in IT security.

We wanted to help them understand the importance of relations between employees, the relationships between IT staff and “civilians”, the pros and cons of specific tools, and their impact on the budget and logistics of the organization.

After completing the film, players received a debriefing from the narrator. We showed how their decisions influenced the cyber security of the organization and the actions of their colleagues.

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It can't be easy

Sure, we could have developed a game in which the right choice had the client’s name or their product in it.

But that would have been too easy for us :) We wanted to make the player feel the weight of each decision (interactive video lets for this)….sweat a little just like in real life cyber threats situations as well as illustrate complex cybersecurity problems.

Working closely with Trend Micro we created an authentic IT security experience where each decision you make, impacts the story, relations with other characters, and future choices.

We introduced a cost variable, and the player had to manage the budget and make sound, technical decisions. It was possible that if you’ve made a wrong decision early on, you wouldn’t have the option to make the right one later.

You’d be out of money.

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Putting everything together.

Juggling so many variables and interactive elements meant that we had to develop our proprietary engine to create connections and then compile the entire video easily. We had a lot of help from our good developer friends at CANEXPLODE.

Our Creative Director is an old gamer, so he had a lot of fun with designing the interactions. In the end, we created a 15-minute interactive video experience that was built out of around 60 minutes of material.

The story consists of over 80 unique paths, in which the interaction of technical, interpersonal, and budgetary decisions lead to 4 various endings. One good and 3 variations of bad.

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Emotions are the key!

We do our best to make each of our projects engage with the viewer on an emotional level… but this one hit the jackpot.

Our determination and burning the midnight oil with the Trend Micro team led us to create an authentic experience for security professionals. As it turned out, they enjoyed replaying the film to see how their decisions changed the outcome.

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Win big!

As a cherry on top,  "Data Center Attack: The Game" interactive video won gold at both Cannes Corporate Media & TV Festival and The Telly Awards for best interactive video in 2018 and best B2B: Branded Content.

It also took home awards for writing and direction.

So, yeah... it looks like we did pretty well ;)

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Now, you give it a try

Test yourself against the best IT security pros in the world.

‍Play the game! (desktop only)

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Thinking of making interactive video for your business?

Excellent!

Get in touch and let's start planning!