Human Awareness & Security Awareness : Parallels in a crisis. . .

Most of us are now sitting at home living in a world that none of us could have imagined when we saw in the new decade of 2020 .

In Galway, home to our HQ,  we had added visions of 2020 being a spectacular year, the year of the European City of Culture. We would be the envy of the whole of Europe and the business impacts of this event would resonate for years to come. Instead the CoVid 19 Pandemic has made Europe the epicentre of the current stage of the Pandemic numbers far outweighing those of China where it was originally identified. The pandemic flagged by Bill Gates in 2015  shows just how global our world today is.

I’ve been thinking about the whole situation and was noticing the sort of comparisons that are made when we talk about data security are the same. We talk about the human element being the weakest link. Staff awareness training is probably one of the most important parts to any data security plan because it allows us to raise a flag if we think there might be a problem. The algorithm’s  tend to have a yes/no answer range and the maybes are not as well developed as the world of AI develops.

It’s a tough world out there today. Social media is everywhere, we can see things happening real time from every corner of the globe, that is what the World Wide Web is, it has its advantages but also its disadvantages.

The forces of good are better served by sharing relevant information quickly but the misinformation can spread fear and can prey on this for selfish motives.  Today we are living in a world where there is no “product” that will save us from the danger so we have to rely on the other ways to do that so we are forced to rely on the human spirit. What are the main weapons we’re using during this pandemic…?

Human Awareness, after all the weakest link is the humans.  The simple message is:

1. Wash your hands (this breaks the chain of infection).

2. Don’t touch your face (this prevents the only known method of transmission the mucus membranes of the human body).

3. Cough into your sleeve or tissue (this prevents it spreading by droplet or aeration).

4. If you show signs of infection self-isolate ( this reduces the number of people infected).

5. If you have to go out practice Social Distancing ( this reduces the number of people infected).

Security Awareness the message is quite simple

1. Practice good cyber hygiene (where are you browsing, what networks are you joining).
2. Don’t introduce any alien items to your network or equipment unless scanned and cleared.
3. Don’t broadcast details of your security measures where others might be in earshot, logging into your bank when on public WiFi.
4. If you believe you have been infected remove yourself from your network to prevent compromising others.
5. When you see something that looks suspicious even if it’s from a friend you should keep your distance and check it.

We will get through this pandemic, we’ll learn the lessons and we’ll be stronger as a world that worked together against a common foe “CoVid-19”. When the world gets back to some sort of normality the criminal elements will continue to look to get your data or money or both. This learning will show you how easy it is to be aware and how together we can also work together against these common foes!

At Intuity, data security has been something we have taken seriously for many years now. Please contact our Security Team for details of how we can help your organisation to maintain their Data Security.