Scott Wright’s Security Views

Viral marketing is a broad term used to describe methods for spreading ideas and messages through the internet at blazing speeds. Methods range from online contest promotions for canned spaghetti to subtle, clever videos on Youtube with website subtitles from the sponsor, to social networking site tools for scouring your email address book looking for candidates to invite into your network.

Depending on how these tools are used, they can be very helpful in bringing people into a focused movement to improve the penetration of a product or service; or they can be a greedy, risky way to get what amounts to a free lottery ticket. Continue Reading »

Here’s a scenario that could happen to anybody in any organization. But with the staggering number of information security breaches occurring at colleges and universities recently, this scenario is perhaps more common in within educational institutions.

A university professor receives an email from another colleague working in the university. The subject line says, “Here’s a good way to stop students from cheating on assignments and exams…” When the email is opened, there is a forwarded message that has a pitch for a free teleseminar on iron-clad techniques that discourages student sharing of assignments. This sounds like a panacea in a world where students are getting too street-wise for professors to maintain control over their evaluation system. So, the prof clicks on the link.

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Bruce Schneier’s recent explanation in a CIO article of psycho-economic experiments regarding how we handle simple security investment makes us all look pretty silly (click HERE). With images that bring to mind Jack Black playing the part of a doomed jungle animal or primitive “homo securosis” (in my mind’s eye, anyway), he recalls Kahneman and Tverseky’s 1979 theory and experiments. The conclusion is fairly simple, and makes some sense.

Consider the following two scenarios and how you would respond…

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One thing sailors usually learn before they become “old sailors” is the value of keeping things neat. When you are at the mercy of wind and water - and with nobody around - a good sailor makes recovery from incidents look easy. They know exactly where the lines, tools and emergency equipment are stowed. They also explain the safety features to new crew members and passengers before they are needed.

If you see ropes strewn across the deck, you may not think of them as being dangerous; but imagine having a weather or mechanical crisis going on, and having to keep looking down to see what’s under your feet as you scurry about the deck to keep from tripping and falling overboard.

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