Rethinking communication in the cybersecurity space

10/18/22 • 39 min

One of the biggest barriers to promoting safe practices in cyberspace is attitude – both from users and from specialists in the industry.

People who’ve never experienced a cyberattack have a difficult time understanding the need for taking precautions in their digital lives because the consequences are abstract and far removed from their daily lives. This is absolutely natural given information security has been around for a second compared to human evolution.

Most people see best practices as an unnecessary burden they don’t have time for. That’s why those in the cybersecurity space need to empathize with each user to be able to help and support them effectively.

Our guest today is Joe Giddens, the Director of Content & Communication at CybSafe – a company focused on lowering human cyber risk by educating, nudging, and supporting teams. He’ll help us understand the communication challenge in the cybersecurity space.

In this episode, you’ll hear about Joe’s experience in law enforcement and how he ended up in cybersecurity. You’ll also learn how familiarization makes it more difficult for experts in our industry to show empathy. Additionally, you’ll find out some honest, hard truths about practicing empathy in helping people acquire the digital security skills they need – and why they need them

In this episode, you will learn:

Joe’s experience in law enforcement and the impact it had on him (04:08)
How Joe ended up in cybersecurity (10:11)
Why desensitization is a big challenge to overcome (15:08)
An overview of CybSafe’s Oh Behave! The Annual Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviors Report 2022 (23:15)
The negative impact of learned helplessness (29:36)

Connect with Joe:

Let’s connect!

One of the biggest barriers to promoting safe practices in cyberspace is attitude – both from users and from specialists in the industry.

In this episode, you will learn:

Joe’s experience in law enforcement and the impact it had on him (04:08)
How Joe ended up in cybersecurity (10:11)
Why desensitization is a big challenge to overcome (15:08)
An overview of CybSafe’s Oh Behave! The Annual Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviors Report 2022 (23:15)
The negative impact of learned helplessness (29:36)

Connect with Joe:

Let’s connect!

Previous Episode

The value of approachability in cybersecurity

The key to being a successful cybersecurity expert is to be approachable and understand the needs of others.

Cybersecurity is a continuous process that touches on many critical organizational functions. It is, therefore, a bad idea to run it in a silo that is unapproachable by teams from other departments.

When cybersecurity personnel are approachable, people feel more comfortable consulting them and following their instructions. This helps in creating a safety-first culture that can improve the overall security posture of an organization and also help people in their day to day lives.

Our guest today is Tracy Z. Maleeff, a Security Researcher with the Krebs Stamos Group. She previously held the roles of Information Security Analyst at The New York Times Company and Cyber Analyst for GlaxoSmithKline. She is a dedicated practitioner and promoter of empathy in cybersecurity.

In this episode, you’ll learn the importance of being approachable as a cybersecurity expert and how it can make your work easier. Plus, Tracy shares a few simple initiatives an organization can undertake to promote a safety-first security culture. Additionally, you'll find out how people feel about empathy in cybersecurity in Europe versus North America.

In this episode, you will learn:

How Tracy ended up in cybersecurity after working as a librarian (04:10)
A common misconception about practicing empathy in cybersecurity (16:19)
Initiatives that can truly help organizations strengthen their cybersecurity culture (29:12)
How Europeans perceive cyber empathy and its role (34:09)

Connect with Tracy:

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Next Episode

How emotions shape human behavior in cybersecurity

People are critical to advancing cybersecurity on all fronts, whether it’s keeping an organization safe or building safer software. Using security software or rolling out an awareness course is not enough. You need to understand how people interact with the system and where following best practices fails them – and why.

This allows the creation of user-friendly policies that make people feel supported instead of hounded for their mistakes. A more empathetic approach to building relationships with cybersecurity (specialists, concepts, and practices) encourages people to ask for help when they identify a potential threat because they don’t feel judged.

Our guest today is Erlend Andreas Gjære, co-founder & CEO of Secure Practice, a Norwegian company that creates data-driven tools to engage, influence, and cultivate security within organizations. He specializes in security and people, focusing on security awareness, training and culture, human risk, behavior, and user experience.

In this episode, you will hear about the role of emotions in human behavior as it manifests and relates to cybersecurity, based on Erlend’s experience as a researcher. You’ll also learn why communication is one of the most important components of making things work in this space. Additionally, you’ll discover real examples that show why fear-based communication is ineffective in getting people to adopt a safer behavior.

In this episode, you will learn:

How Erlend’s experience as a research scientist shaped his mission in cybersecurity (05:27)
Why having management backing is not the most important element for building a security-focused culture (07:53)
Real examples of the range of emotions that cybersecurity triggers in people (19:49)
How using fear-based communication damages the willingness to act on security advice in the long run (24:32)
How specialists’ familiarity with cybersecurity makes them underestimate the complexity of concepts and advice they give people (32:16)
A practical example of how to make a good business case for using empathy to advance secure behavior (34:49)

Resources:

Connect with Erlend:

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