ClearSale: fighting digital crime with gamification

ClearSale was born with a clear and ambitious mission: protect e-commerce against digital fraud. With over two decades of experience, the company has become a reference on the antifraud solutions market, expanding their impact to several areas, such as financial, always with total focus on the client and their protection. 

As digital scams evolved, ClearSale was also reinventing themselves. Betting on innovation and technology, the company started to use artificial intelligence in a strategic way, uniting data analysis to the ability to anticipate risks. But, to face cybercrime in a truly meaningful way, they needed to go beyond technology. They needed to involve people. 

The search for the perfect solution

ClearSale has always known that employees are a crucial factor in cyber resilience. However, as still happens in many technology companies, not all employees had a concrete perception of digital risks.

So, in 2019, the InfoSec area, led by Luiz Karl, decided to take a strategic step: implement a gamified digital security education program across the entire internal structure, covering the defensive, offensive, and compliance layers.

And more than a technology-based decision, what really sustained this choice was the alignment of values. ClearSale and Hacker Rangers share the same vision: focus on people, accessible communication, and a more human approach to learning.

The initial awareness scenario

Despite the growing investment in cybersecurity, awareness was still treated in a punctual way inside ClearSale. Initiatives existed, but were limited to face-to-face training led by the Information Security (InfoSec) team with a restricted audience, often competing with actions from other areas. Since participation was not mandatory, it was common for some employees to see awareness as “something for the IT people.”

What was missing was scale, engagement, and a way to make the subject part of everyday life. That’s when ClearSale found a new approach to transform this scenario.

With the arrival of Hacker Rangers, the company started relying on a gamified platform, with accessible language and content fully connected to the company’s reality.

The new way of presenting the importance of cybersecurity helped make a technical and often distant subject more accessible. By translating complex concepts into interactive and engaging experiences, the InfoSec team began sparking employees’ interest and turning learning into something lighter, relevant, and applicable to everyone’s daily routine.

Marcelo, now the Hacker Rangers program manager at ClearSale, recalls his experience with the platform when he was still just a user: “My first experience with the methodology was as a user, not as a manager. And it was really cool. The content was, and still is, short and very straightforward. You can finish in less than 15 minutes, so it’s easy to complete when you have a break at work. Besides, the topics grab your attention and give you that start to look for more material to go deeper, because they’re really interesting.”

“The content was, and still is, short and very straightforward. You can finish in less than 15 minutes, so it’s easy to complete when you have a break at work. Besides, the topics grab your attention and give you that start to look for more material to go deeper, because they’re really interesting.”

Beyond the platform: the importance of teaming up with the Communication department

But the real turning point didn’t come only with InfoSec’s new approach. It truly gained strength when different areas began to connect around the same goal.

Gabriel Ramos, who today manages the program alongside Marcelo, also had his first contact with Hacker Rangers as a user. Both always knew that the key to success was clear, close communication well aligned with the company’s culture. That’s why they made a point of securing the Communication team’s support from the very beginning.

When the Communication team stepped in, it completely transformed the way of dialoguing with employees. Messages became more human, direct, and approachable — and information security started to gain more and more visibility and protagonism inside the company.

Today, the employee journey already begins with cybersecurity. From onboarding, every new hire at ClearSale is introduced to the Hacker Rangers platform and receives continuous encouragement to keep learning over time.

Far beyond the gamified platform, the topic also earned space inside “My T!”, a program from ClearSale integrated with the Culture and People teams, where various content is shared with employees. Within it, employees who achieve goals on Hacker Rangers earn “T! points.” It’s one more smart channel reinforcing the information security culture in a light and engaging way.

Countless automations have also been integrated into the daily routine and have become great allies. Reminders like “Have you accessed Hacker Rangers today?” circulate through internal channels, helping to keep awareness active every day.

ClearSale’s communication strategy has become an essential pillar in building a security culture. And it all began when employees truly became the center of the conversation.

Having experienced the platform themselves before becoming administrators, Marcelo and Gabriel understand firsthand how employees think and react to the topic. This experience allowed them to build a lighter, more empathetic connection aligned with people’s routines — without compromising the seriousness and responsibility that cybersecurity requires.

“As a result, we end up having a view from both sides. When I see a cyberattitude or a doubt, I can understand why it happened. It’s very likely I had the same question myself. So what we try to do here is put ourselves in the employee’s shoes, call them to talk directly, and understand more deeply.” — says Marcelo.

In a context where many employees still feel reluctant to approach the IT team out of fear of repercussions, this approach demonstrates the excellent work of the managers in creating a more accessible, human, and engaging environment.

Recognition that truly engages

As engagement grew, recognition models also evolved.

The program started gaining more visibility within the company and today, the top three participants of each season receive prizes such as laptops, Echo Dots, and generous vouchers. At the end of each cycle, in addition to rewarding the top three, all employees who reach the Hacker Ranger rank participate in special raffles.

The most interesting part? Many employees participate not only for the prizes, but because they are genuinely engaged with the content. Managers report cases where employees themselves initiate debates about unapproved cyberattitudes or question details from the content. This shows that learning is no longer just institutional — it has become something personal and meaningful.

Finally, the cherry on top of the recognition strategy is the creation of the “Best of the Month” board, with a featured photo and highlight on the company intranet. And, of course, all these names also become part of ClearSale’s “hall of fame.”

Results

ClearSale’s results didn’t take long to appear. Today, at the end of its tenth season, Marcelo and Gabriel can showcase impressive numbers: 98% of employees accessed the training and more than 19,000 cyberattitudes have already been submitted. This demonstrates not only the program’s reach, but the true transformation of behavior at scale.

But ClearSale’s greatest transformation goes beyond numbers. The real result lies in the mindset shift, noticeable in small everyday actions. When a suspicious email arrives, employees now ask themselves: “Could this be phishing?” Even if it’s just a marketing newsletter, the attentive mindset is there, and that makes all the difference.

“Employees actively report any activity that seems unusual, both through cyberattitudes and support tickets. Recently we wrapped up a phishing campaign where fewer than 0.5% of employees clicked. And we received a flood of cyberattitudes reporting that same phishing attempt. It was amazing.” — says Gabriel Ramos.

And the impact on behavior has been evident. Old habits, such as changing a colleague’s screensaver or password when they left their computer unlocked — once seen as harmless jokes — gave way to a more mature awareness.

InfoSec understood that these behaviors could represent real risks: someone with bad intentions could access sensitive information or even send an email on behalf of the company, possibly even to the president. What was once a laughing matter began to be recognized as a behavior that needed correction.

Cybersecurity has become a hallway topic. According to Marcelo, when someone identifies a potential security risk, instead of ignoring it — as still happens in many companies — they share it with colleagues so everyone stays alert, forming a network of collaboration.

Responsibility stopped being just technical and became collective. And digital security stopped being just another task in the day-to-day, it became a real habit.

Beyond ClearSale

Marcelo and Gabriel make it clear: the goal of the training offered by InfoSec through Hacker Rangers is not only to protect the company, but to ensure that each person has a safer digital life both inside and outside the workplace.

“There’s no way to separate things by saying: now it’s 8 a.m. and I’m a professional. Personal life inevitably impacts work.”

And this goal didn’t take long to materialize. Reports of cyberattitudes that went beyond the company began to arrive: employees helping family members stay safe online, creating stronger passwords, avoiding scams on messaging apps, taking better care of their own data. The transformation went beyond the employee badge. Because who we are at work is also who we are at home.

Future plans

Today, security is so deeply rooted in ClearSales’s organizational culture that many ideas and projects only move forward after a conversation with the security team. Cybersecurity has stopped being a final step and has become an essential component from the start.

After more than 10 seasons playing with us, Clearsale decided to take a new step: turning data into strategy for the next seasons! Proudly displaying the Black Certified seal, the InfoSec team shows that it is ready to face the next level.