Proofpoint Security Awareness Training vs. SANS Security Awareness Training

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training (formerly ThreatSim from Wombat Security) is a cloud-based training platform that simulates threat scenarios (e.g. phishing) and also provides assessment testing developed by Wombat Technologies, which was acquired by Proofpoint in March 2018.N/A
SANS Security Awareness Training
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
SANS Institute offers a suite of security awareness training courses, and other specialized security learning, delivered via computer, featuring role-based dynamic training modules.N/A
Pricing
Proofpoint Security Awareness TrainingSANS Security Awareness Training
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Proofpoint Security Awareness TrainingSANS Security Awareness Training
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Proofpoint Security Awareness TrainingSANS Security Awareness Training
Considered Both Products
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training

No answer on this topic

SANS Security Awareness Training
Chose SANS Security Awareness Training
We actually are currently migrating to Proofpoint Security Awareness Training because of its integration with the Proofpoint email filter. This will allow us to target specific users who are clicking on bad emails with specific training material. We have used KnowBe4 in the …
Top Pros
Top Cons

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Features
Proofpoint Security Awareness TrainingSANS Security Awareness Training
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training
9.0
1 Ratings
8% above category average
SANS Security Awareness Training
9.0
1 Ratings
8% above category average
Single sign-on capability9.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Security Awareness Training
Comparison of Security Awareness Training features of Product A and Product B
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training
9.4
1 Ratings
12% above category average
SANS Security Awareness Training
8.5
1 Ratings
2% above category average
Training Content Library10.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Multilingual Training Content9.01 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Training Gamification9.01 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Industry-Specific Security Training9.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Individualized Security Training Plans9.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Phishing Simulations10.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Security Reporting10.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Integration with Security Tech Stack00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Proofpoint Security Awareness TrainingSANS Security Awareness Training
Small Businesses
Barracuda Security Awareness Training
Barracuda Security Awareness Training
Score 6.9 out of 10
Barracuda Security Awareness Training
Barracuda Security Awareness Training
Score 6.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training
Score 9.0 out of 10
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training
Proofpoint Security Awareness Training
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Hoxhunt
Hoxhunt
Score 9.3 out of 10
Hoxhunt
Hoxhunt
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Proofpoint Security Awareness TrainingSANS Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(46 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(44 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Proofpoint Security Awareness TrainingSANS Security Awareness Training
Likelihood to Recommend
Proofpoint
Perfect for regular (monthly) training of staff versus a "one and done" annual assignment on Cyber Security. Allows for a greater number of topics to be covered and for creating a "culture" of security awareness among all Staff throughout the entire company. NOT a replacement for IT Security Certifications amongst your technical staff (CISSPs & GSLCs on staff are a must have). Your Proofpoint Account Rep does most of the heavy lifting, but the program still requires "care and feeding" (resources) within your organization - preparing monthly user lists for training assignments and preparing reports for leadership on participation & progress
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SANS Institute
SANS Security Awareness Training program would be well suited for a large organization that needs to develop multiple training programs with different courses based on the roles of the end users. It seemed a bit difficult at times to achieve simple setup processes because of the configurations tailored to larger, more complex organizations.
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Pros
Proofpoint
  • Proofpoint has a huge library of phishing emails to choose from. They add new examples every week.
  • The training modules are fun and interactive and keep the user engaged.
  • The posters, and downloadable materials are amazing and really give a great visual to support your security campaigns.
  • The product is easy to use, and Proofpoint Support Staff are always available to help with any issues you have.
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SANS Institute
  • Variety of cyber threat videos and presentations
  • Web based and mobile access to the platform
  • Easy to manage administrator access to configure the training sessions
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Cons
Proofpoint
  • The lack of a user rating on "cyber risk" is proving to be an immense difficulty. As we are looking at how to better hold our employees accountable as well as provide increased learning opportunities for those who need it most, it is becoming cumbersome--especially given the fact this is starting to become the standard for Security Awareness companies. The lack of this is resulting in a manual process vs being able to automate and moderate, thus taking up time and resources, which are always at a scarcity. It can also be cumbersome to look across the tools to see how a particular user is doing, vs being able to view all of their data in one space.
  • If you are a marketer, the editors for the Phishing Templates and Teachable Moments are quite frustrating. They feel out of date and clunky, as well as not featuring an auto-save, so you could lose the templates you are building. At this point, I have actually started to work in other email creation editors and learning HTML, to better customize and then moving all of the code into the editor. It has thus far proven to be less of a headache. I also do not believe the average user is working on branding their program, creating consistency for easy of navigation, and including additional resources in their teachable moments in the way we currently are. However, as more social science backgrounds continue to enter security awareness, I believe this will move towards the norm.
  • Some of the reporting numbers for Simulated Phishing could be better. For example, telling me how many people acknowledged the teachable moment out of the full email campaign is less meaningful than knowing how many people acknowledged it, from those who actually triggered/were shown the teachable moment.
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SANS Institute
  • Mass import of users was a bit confusing
  • User interface was sometimes not intuitive
  • Ability to upload custom content was difficult to use
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Likelihood to Renew
Proofpoint
  • The product is great for what we use it for
  • We have a good relationship with our vendor/Proofpoint, which I believe is needed to be successful in Security Awareness and using tools like this
  • The package/service as a whole is incredibly helpful
  • The integrations with Proofpoint's Trap is one of the most valuable things we could do. It turns your entire email user base into members of IT security, to be on the look out to report cyber attacks, and have them pulled out of everyone's email if the email is condemed/found malicious.
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SANS Institute
No answers on this topic
Usability
Proofpoint
Overall, PSAT is integral to what we do. PSAT is a helpful tool to help us improve our employees ability to recognize, report, and respond to phishing. It works for us to use a longterm partner, who is incredibly helpful/supportive, and also bringing Proofpoint's greater cybersecurity & attack intelligence into PSAT. Honestly, we are pretty happy and would make the choice to go with PSAT again (we evaluated the major players in the space via Gartner's Magic Quadrant). The team behind the products are excellent and the product of itself is both intuitive and expansive. This combination allows us to reach our 10k+ employees who are located in over 20 countries
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SANS Institute
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Proofpoint
Proofpoint support has always been above average. A lot of companies provide a customer service manager for your account but few have proved as connected as Proofpoint. The CSM was able to give us a good start with the product and checked in periodically. I found them always helpful with any questions and very knowledgeable about the platform.
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SANS Institute
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Proofpoint
All three products have the pros and cons. Since we use other Proofpoint products, TAP, TRAP, etc. the integration with PSAT is much better. The other products do not integrate with TRAP nearly as well as PSAT.
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SANS Institute
We actually are currently migrating to Proofpoint Security Awareness Training because of its integration with the Proofpoint email filter. This will allow us to target specific users who are clicking on bad emails with specific training material. We have used KnowBe4 in the past as well, but it was rather costly compared to SANS Security Awareness Training and Proofpoint. SANS Security Awareness Training seems to be the least easy-to-use interface from an administrative perspective compared to the other two.
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Return on Investment
Proofpoint
  • I don't have any tangible numbers to provide, but we definitely have an increase in the number of staff reporting suspicious emails and fewer people clicking on phishing emails.
  • The cost we are paying per employee (<$2 pp)is low enough that we can consider this a "benefit" we offer to our employees. The knowledge gained can also be applied to your personal life with similar threats.
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SANS Institute
  • Positive impact knowing we are educating our staff from phishing and potential cyber criminals
  • Considering the potential for bad actors infiltrating our network, this is a small expense
  • Pricing based on actual end users, worth the investment
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