The Security Culture Playbook

Introduction

We're here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else even be here?

Steve Jobs

So, you're interested in security culture. You are not alone. The use of the phrase “security culture” has been steadily increasing over the past few years as organizations seek to combat the ever-present, daily drip of data breaches.

Somehow, despite all the great advancements in security-related technologies, we are faced with a simple truth: Technology, alone, is not enough. It does not offer sufficient protection against breach. Cybercriminals inevitably find ways to bypass the technology by targeting vulnerable humans; or a malicious or negligent insider may know just the right “work around” to effectively nullify your defenses. That's a recipe for a bad day.

Security leaders and business executives are coming to recognize that it's time to pay close attention to a long-neglected layer within their security stack: the human layer. But, you may ask, doesn't that mean that we should be talking about security awareness? The answer is both yes and no. Awareness is definitely part of the answer, but, by definition, simple awareness can take you only so far. Heck, even the old G.I. Joe public service announcements got that right. If you remember, they ended with the tag line, “Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.”

For far too long, organizations have fallen into the trap of equating security awareness (information sharing) efforts with behavior change.

For far too ...