hat do “Wash Your Hands”,
“Smokey the Bear” and
“Loose Lips Sink Ships” all
have in common? They are all highly
successful campaigns that were
designed to change our behavior and
help us work together as a group in
order to stop an invisible threat. And
the same idea – the idea that each of us
is responsible for helping to create
cyber security at work – will create a
human firewall that can do as much as
technology to protect us from hacking.
It would be impossible to be alive in
today’s virtual world and not be aware
of the furor over cybersecurity. We are
constantly bombarded with warnings
about all the bad things that hackers
can do to us. But few of us are IT
experts and even fewer of us
understand that there is not a one-size-
fits-all approach to cybersecurity.
Think of cybersecurity like the flu shot.
Even if a small utility system has a
dedicated IT person (that is a nice
fantasy), the best he/she can do is put
some firewalls, email filters or
By Elizabeth Dietzmann, JD
26
THE KANSAS LIFELINE
March 2017
W
antivirus software in place that MIGHT
prevent SOME viruses or malware
from getting into the computers. That’s
basically a flu shot, right? Every year
viruses mutate and so the Centers for
Disease Control create a flu vaccine
that they hope will prevent the most
common viruses. But that shot is never
100 percent effective. The flu viruses
are always out there, constantly
changing. Just like computer viruses
created by hackers. But wait!. What is
the number one thing that EVERY
doctor tells us will stop the spread of
the flu? That’s right - washing your
hands. Because WE can play a huge
part in stopping the spread of viruses,
even if the vaccine can’t completely
prevent them.
Or think about it this way.
Remember the huge spy propaganda
campaign during WWII? There were
spy rings everywhere and the
government was actively tracking
them. But what was the “social media”
campaign of the time? “Loose Lips
Sink Ships”. Individuals were
encouraged to take responsibility for
their own actions and to report
suspicious behavior. Because
mentioning that you worked at a
munitions plant to a guy at a bar who
might be a German sympathizer was
far more likely to happen then having
an actual spy ring target you. So having
individuals be cautious was far more
effective than capturing huge spy rings.
And remember Smokey the Bear? Only
YOU can prevent forest fires! Well
guess what? Only YOU can prevent
phishing attacks. And you don’t need to
be an IT expert to do this.
Well guess what? Only
YOU can prevent phishing
attacks. And you don’t
need to be an IT expert to
do this.
Practicing Safe Cybersecurity, or,
How to Become a Human Firewall
Practicing Safe Cybersecurity, or,
How to Become a Human Firewall
GWA
316-550-6177
Cell 316-734-8567
VINCENTBRAD@HOTMAIL.COM
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round
W
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ssociates,
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nc.
EXPERTISE IN WATER & WELLS
BRAD C. VINCENT, P.G.
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EOLOGIST
109 W. 1st Avenue
P.O. Box 792
GODDARD, KANSAS 67052