Finding security bugs in our brain
You look both sides of the road before you cross it. Then why don’t you press Ctrl+Alt+De+Enter before you leave your workstation (computer)!
You may be listening to music or having a chit-chat with your friend over mobile phone when you reach the edge of the road. You continue listening to music and keep talking to your friends but something inside you makes you automatically look both sides of the road before you cross it. Ever wonder why?
It is just because your brain is programmed to do so. When we were kids, we were taught about the dangers concerning vehicle accidents by our parents and we were consciously made to look both sides of the road before crossing it. Doing it a few times made it a habit. We made looking both sides while crossing the road a subconscious routine without ever being conscious about it.
Our brain is programmed to protect us, but all of us should be aware of the bugs in it and debugging is required at regular intervals. Unless you regularly feed a habit to your brain it will not be able to protect you all the time. A typical example is protecting the data in your computer. A simple act such as pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del+Enter every time you leave your workstation locks the screen and prevents unauthorized access through password protection. So, how can you make it a subconscious habit? Feed it to your brain through repeat practice. You dot it a couple of times, and then it becomes a default habit, just like looking both sides of the road before you cross it.
There are more examples of remaining safe in your personal life. Think about the time you last paid your bill in a restaurant using a credit card. You may not be having any clue what happens in 5 minutes between giving your credit Card to the waiter and the card being returned after swiping. It is a common practice in India to give photocopy of credit cards to an agent for a loan request. People don’t think about the dangers of performing such seemingly innocuous acts.
Thus it becomes an absolute necessary to have an effective Information Security training in every organization. The training should every way drop parallel with real life incidents (mention the ones above) with employees in its organization. It should enable the employees to develop simple and effective security habits (like pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del+Enter) while dealing with information. So a proper and continuous awareness program that meets the particular organizations requirements could only prove fruitful.
Check www.whatsyourisq.com to make your security awareness programs interesting and more effective.
By Asok Ramachandran