A North East business and technology consultancy is helping firms learn to avoid "an udder disaster" with the creation of its own board game.

Information security and business resilience experts Sarah Cunningham, and Craig Archdeacon from Waterstons Ltd, which is headquartered in Durham and has offices in London, Glasgow and Sydney, Australia, developed the farmyard themed game to help replicate real life events in a fun and interactive way.

Mr Archdeacon, head of cyber assurance at Waterstons said: “It can be difficult to articulate the importance of balancing business objectives with good risk management, cyber security and a well-thought-out strategy, so we created this game to close the gap between innovation, growth and the reality of building a business.

Read more: Boxing champion tragically dies snorkelling on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

“Although an important subject matter, it was vital for us to make sure it was understood, so making it fun and engaging was a given.

"That way players don’t even realise they are gaining a greater understanding of why protections are in place to enable effective operation, opportunity creation and taking well-informed, calculated risks.”

In the game, which takes common business scenarios and applies them to the context of a dairy farm, players need to successfully navigate the challenges of running a business, considering key components and strategies to protect, adapt, optimise and innovate.

Mr Archdeacon added: “One of the biggest cyber security weaknesses for businesses is lack of knowledge amongst staff, so Udder Disaster can be used as a training tool for teams, business leaders, operational managers and budding entrepreneurs to understand vulnerabilities, risks and budgets outside of the context of their own business.”

Initially developed during the first Covid-19 lockdown, the game is now available to play both virtually and in-person, meaning it can be accessed by firms all over the world.

To find out more about Udder Disaster, visit www.waterstons.com

More stories here:

If you want to read more great stories, why not subscribe to your Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here