Empathy over ego: why we're angry at the wrong people in cybersecurity

04/02/24 • 58 min

Whenever someone says humans are the weakest link in cybersecurity, besides educating through fear, they are crafting a narrative, creating a reality in people's heads, and making them feel helpless against cyber criminals.

My guest, Lianne Potter, feels utterly differently about how to educate people on cybersecurity. Instead of fear, she advocates for empowering them through trust, autonomy, and, above all things, reciprocity.

Lianne is a Cyber Anthropologist, Head of Security Operations at Asda, a published author, host of the Compromising Positions podcast, keynote speaker, and multi-award-winning cybersecurity specialist. She recently won Computing.com's Security Specialist of the Year award, and, in 2021, she was named one of the Security Leaders of the Year and Woman of the Year in the Enterprise category.

This conversation is yet another opportunity to discover the dedication, kindness, and thoughtfulness that brought Lianne all these well-deserved achievements.

Throughout our conversation, she brought her brilliant and unique vision of cybersecurity. We discussed cybersecurity's own microculture in the tech space, its rituals and habits, and how cybersecurity specialists can transform how they educate the people they serve.

Lianne proposed brilliant ideas like ritualizing protection, empowering people through trust and autonomy instead of micromanaging and fear, cultivating the' hero mentality, and more.

Episode highlights:

The moment Lianne fell in love with cybersecurity (6:40)
What makes cybersecurity's micro-culture so attractive (10:20)
The 3 main traits of cybersecurity (14:30)
Why reciprocity is crucial in cybersecurity (17:20)
Why trust and autonomy are the biggest gifts cybersecurity can offer (20:00)
Lianne’s experience with joining her first cybersecurity team (26:30)
The importance of how we communicate things (37:10)
Why educating through fear never works (42:00)

Resources Mentioned:

Let's connect!

This conversation is yet another opportunity to discover the dedication, kindness, and thoughtfulness that brought Lianne all these well-deserved achievements.

Lianne proposed brilliant ideas like ritualizing protection, empowering people through trust and autonomy instead of micromanaging and fear, cultivating the' hero mentality, and more.

Episode highlights:

The moment Lianne fell in love with cybersecurity (6:40)
What makes cybersecurity's micro-culture so attractive (10:20)
The 3 main traits of cybersecurity (14:30)
Why reciprocity is crucial in cybersecurity (17:20)
Why trust and autonomy are the biggest gifts cybersecurity can offer (20:00)
Lianne’s experience with joining her first cybersecurity team (26:30)
The importance of how we communicate things (37:10)
Why educating through fear never works (42:00)

Resources Mentioned:

Let's connect!

Previous Episode

A hacker's guide to changing the world

Joshua Corman is a security strategist, philosopher, and co-founder of I am The Cavalry, a collective of professionals from technology, law, and public policy who work to mitigate the impact software-enabled and always-connected devices have on public safety and human life.

We had a deeply moving conversation about Joshua's influential work in cybersecurity, the birth of I Am The Cavalry, and his experiences navigating tough life transitions.

Using his masterful ability to capture thoughts, feelings, and experiences, Joshua brings to life the essence of building genuine connections, fostering trust, and caring deeply for others - and the role these play in using cybersecurity for a worthy goal.

Episode Highlights:

Joshua shares a valuable lesson a stranger taught him about empathy (3:10)
About the feeling that gave birth to I Am The Cavalry (8:00)
Why bother? Because we want to be safer sooner (15:40)
There's nothing more intoxicating than having an impact, material progress, and tangible wins (22:40)
What is the next wave of empathy in cybersecurity (28:20)
You don't need to be famous to make the world better (36:40)

Resources Mentioned: