On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me – Security Awareness…

Christmas is one of those occasions when people tend to have some spare time on their hands for indulging their passions and interests, which could take them on a journey of Internet discovery. It may well also be the case that a little communication with distant relatives is the order of the season – utilising e-mail or Internet telephony may be very useful to have a catch up on the latest news and gossip. And that is not to mention becoming a member of the mass of on-line shoppers, ordering that special present, or seeking out those special on-line shopping deals.

When attending a security event last week, it was very noticeable just how much emphasis is placed on security education and awareness to underpin the internal corporate mission, to drive expectations of security. However, what struck me was, whilst the businesses communicates to its users, this tends to exclude many people who are at risk every single day. In fact, at that very same time it also came as a flash that  'we', as security professionals, also speak and preach to, well, ourselves, the converted, and again we tend to forget one very important at risk group – the public.

It is here where I believe that we, the incumbent security professionals, need to do our bit as a matter of community spirit (e.g., for no return on our time investment) working to represent a 'Community Driven Internet Security Campaign', with the objective of reaching out to our own individual communities, to assist the exposed end users to enjoy the benefits and opportunity of secure use of the Internet.
 
In 2009 I ran a Security Conference in Nottingham called ‘Security for a Digital Britain’ which sponsored by Nottingham Trent University School of Computing and Informatics, and the Nottingham City Council. The idea was ‘not’ to bring security to the mass of the security profession, but was actually aimed to bring the message about security to the community. In fact so successful was the inspired objective, we were encouraged by representations of delegates, from the small local businesses, SME’s, through to members of the public, and the elder citizens.

The end result of the event was amazing. Whilst it did not resolve an industrial style cross-UK security, it ‘did’ reach-out to a large number of people in that community who would never have been included in any such event of this type. The event also created an interface with local community, and it did manifest in opportunities to spread the word about security. A further benefit from the event was to get involved with some of the on-line crime notification and messaging services run by some police forces, again allowing an extended reach to the wider public on the subject of Scams, Cyber Threats, and other such opportunities of insecurity. But it did not stop there, and because of the increased profile the subject of cyber threats gained in the local community, this went on to involvement with the BBC, running a number of articles on the local radio station, which again is extending that communications out to those who, under normal circumstance would not be included.

So for Christmas 2011, why not consider how ‘we’ could help your local community. Imagine if there were local campaigns giving people simple '10 Steps to Security' on use of the internet as posters, going up on local notice board. Imagine if in 2012 a few security professionals were willing to give up some of their time, and for zero cost, work with their Local Authority to spread the word about Computer Security in the Community. Imagine how far that message could be pushed if we went to the local Woman’s Institute to give them a presentation on the subject of say, 'Safer Surfing' – it may not seem a lot, but believe me it can make a real difference.

The absolute bottom line is, we need a National Cyber Security Campaign, but right now, under the current financial constraints, I don’t see much happening. So why not get a bit of that old fashioned British Bulldog Sprit, and just go out there and do it - and start to nibble away at the problem – ground up from our local communities. It may be a small amount of effort, and investment in time, but the rewards could be significant for the community – and what better time to give something back than in this Season of Good Will.

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