Is there an alternative to user education?…

…in global fight against fraud? IMHO, there isn’t. Although I am not – by any stretch of imagination – the first one who arrived to this conclusion, nobody came out with a working idea on how realistically we can move the needle in this direction.

I recently had a chance to present a hastily-put-together “Cyber-security 101 – Defensive Browsing for Everyone” presentation* to a not-necessarily-technical audience. A friend of mine joked after the presentation – “most of them will never use Internet again” 🙂 While it wasn’t really my intention I can’t but acknowledge that the sheer number of steps to be taken, “rules of thumb” and details to pay attention to in order to remain safe online can be pretty daunting to an average surfer. Bridging that knowledge gap for the “masses” seems to be – so far – insurmountable challenge for the industry.

Now, as a humble “soldier” in this fight, I have worked out my own tricks to convey the message. For example, I consider cyber crime having a lot in common with the crime in physical world – a phenomena which average person is much more familiar with either personally or from the books/movies. Consequently when evangelizing “defensive browsing” I use this analogy to explain concepts from the cyber “equivalent”. From my past experience – it generally proves to be quite effective.

For instance:

• Browser – the door between your house (in this case perhaps an RV) and the street
• Unpatched PC – the door poorly locked leaving you increasingly vulnerable to all potential thieves in the neighborhood (in case on Internet – the ‘neighborhood’ is the whole World including the criminals who are beyond American justice system)
• Clicking on a link in an email – opening the door without checking who’s on the other side; alternatively – rushing to a place suggested by a letter in the mail
• Anti virus – pest control in the house
• Browsing suspicious sites – strolling in known bad neighborhoods at night
• Phishing site – an impostor pretending to be your cleaning person’s ‘cousin’ to get the keys to your house
• Open Wi-fi (with no additional precautions) – a place where the bad guys can easily hook you with a tracking device, a bug or a video surveillance device

In a way, cyber security can be viewed as an extension of our physical security, so the analogies are really limitless. Making the connection between them is the first step in educating crime-aware and responsible “netizens”.

*[update] I’ve put the presentation here – click on the image to view the slides