RE: [inbox] Re: CyberInsecurity: The cost of Mo nopoly

[Chris Cozad <ccozad () sci-aust com au>]

Do you really think you could convince the average user that they need to
know this much about security? I mean, most users see their computers (and
the network, servers, phones, faxes, etc...) as a tool to do business with.
Nothing else. The computers are there to do a job, or help get a job done,
and nothing else. It is not so much that they don't know, it is that they
don't need to know.

To actually get users to attend this level of training would be fantastic.
Our jobs would be so much easier. But it just aint gunna happen in the real
world. It is definitely up to us, as security professionals, to effectively
"idiot proof" our systems, so that users only need to know some basic
security rules.

Thats my 2 cents worth, anyway...

Chris Cozad (ccozad () scia com au)
Infrastructure Manager
SCIA Pty. Ltd.



-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Schmehl [mailto:pauls () utdallas edu]
Sent: Tuesday, 30 September 2003 2:58 PM
To: full-disclosure () lists netsys com
Subject: RE: [inbox] Re: [Full-disclosure] CyberInsecurity: The cost of
Monopoly


--On Monday, September 29, 2003 19:30:24 -0600 Bruce Ediger 
<eballen1 () qwest net> wrote:
> I realize you're from Texas and everything, but are you nuts?
> An 8-year old with a handgun should cause vast feelings of insecurity
> in you, with or without proper training on her part.
Hmmm...I am from Texas, and I can tell you that many an eight year old 
learns to handle firearms down here.  Not all of Texas is citified, you 
know.  We still have a lot of open range with coyotes and ground hogs and 
other things to shoot at.

> Besides that, what do you mean by "proper safety training" for a computer
> used?  If you mean the failed "don't click on any attachments, don't
> open email from someone you don't know" recipe-style of training, then no
> to that too.
No, I meant proper security training.  Is that so hard to understand? 
Regardless of the OS, every user should know how and why to patch.  Every 
user should understand what social engineering is, how to detect it and 
what to do about it.  Every user should understand physical security, 
locking your workstation, why you should logout and when, etc., etc.  Every 
user should understand the basics of malicious code, how to spot it, what 
to do about it, how to recognize hoaxes, where the resources are when they 
need help.

Without user training and an educated user community, no security program 
can ever hope to succeed.

Paul Schmehl (pauls () utdallas edu)
Adjunct Information Security Officer
The University of Texas at Dallas
AVIEN Founding Member
http://www.utdallas.edu

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