Client case Tozetta x POM: How a security training managed to surprise the development team
POM shares how an experienced software development team was surprised during a technical security awareness training given by hackers.
How do you make an experienced development team even sharper on security? That question brought POM to Tozetta. Although security has been an important focus within the organization for years, and the team deals with software development and security issues on a daily basis, there was a need to further deepen existing knowledge and have their own approach critically tested by external experts.
The challenge here was clear: find a training that offered enough technical depth for an experienced team and was directly applicable within their own environment. In this interview, Mariëlle shares how POM experienced the collaboration with Tozetta and what concrete results the training delivered.
Why did you decide to organize a security training?
"Security is an important focus for us. We have an experienced development team that deals with software development and security issues on a daily basis. At the same time, we wanted to further deepen our knowledge and have our approach critically tested by external experts."
What were your expectations beforehand?
"Honestly, I had some concerns beforehand. Our team isn't exactly made up of lightweights technically, so the challenge was to find a training that offered enough depth and didn't get stuck in general theory."
How did you experience the training?
"The feedback from the team was unanimously positive! Trainer Wout van der Ploeg's preparation in particular made an impression. He had thoroughly studied the information we had provided beforehand and was therefore able to give very targeted feedback. Everything was particularly relevant to our situation.
In addition, the content was also very current. During the training, a vulnerability was even discussed that had only just become known at that point. That gave extra confidence that we were talking to someone right in the middle of the field."
What did you think of the combination of theory and practice?
"That combination worked excellently. The theoretical part in the morning provided the necessary background and context, while the hands-on part in the afternoon ensured the insights could be translated directly into practice. According to the team, both parts were particularly instructive."
Did the training deliver concrete results?
"Absolutely. Almost immediately after the training, we saw several points for improvement showing up in our backlog. Multiple JIRA tickets appeared right away for things the team wanted to address as a result of the session. That's an important indicator for me: when people take action immediately after a training, you know the content really stuck."
In conclusion
"From the initial introduction and preparation to the training itself and the administrative handling, the collaboration went particularly professionally. The training not only delivered new insights, but also set concrete improvement actions in motion. For us, this was without a doubt a successful investment."