Hi! I’m Kate, the art director at Ethena, and I have to admit something. Sometimes I don’t fully understand why we make all the amazing interesting courses that we make. 

I know they’re clever, engaging, and have the best illustrations in any compliance training ever (this is my totally unbiased objective opinion). But why do we need Cybersecurity Awareness when we already have Data Privacy? And why are we seeing a lot of customers purchasing both courses?

As a go-getter and nosy Nancy, I secretly sent a DM to one of my coworkers on the side to explain it to me, and here’s what she said: 

Data Privacy is about how you collect it, while Cybersecurity Awareness is about how you protect it.

So, Data Privacy is more about ensuring you collect and store data in accordance with external protocols (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) and internal controls that “respect” data (i.e. you don’t collect and store data without a specific purpose, you don’t just let everyone have access willy nilly).

Meanwhile, our Cybersecurity Awareness course is more like how to protect that data from external threats, because even if you’ve been careful in creating the right controls for data, the hackers are still out there trying to steal it. So Cybersecurity teaches folks how not to fall for those tricks and create a data breach situation.

Once you collect it (Data Privacy), you gotta know how to protect it (Cybersecurity Awareness).

Peanut butter cups, stacked and delicious

I think I got it, but in case you need a more visual — and delicious — metaphor, try this: Think of it like peanut butter cups — Data Privacy is the delicious creamy peanut butter inside, and Cybersecurity Awareness is the hard crunchy chocolate that protects it.

Sure, peanut butter is great on its own, and chocolate is beloved by its very nature — but together? A match made in data security heaven. 

To make it even easier to see the delicious combination, we paired these two sample microlessons together, because they’re a perfect combo to show how Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Awareness work together for complete snack-sized satisfaction.

Take a look at our Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Awareness microlessons, and I’m sorry if you’re craving sweets now.

P.S. Okay, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that when you buy four courses, you unlock the entire course catalog – that’s a whole smorgasbord of training including Harassment Prevention, Management Essentials, Code of Conduct and more (like, hundreds more). Check out the pricing page for more info!

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