Get on the Eye Level: Tailoring the Security Talk

“Talking outside the community about security basics and teaching security awareness without resorting to FUD-tactics can be both challenging and satisfying. Challenging because you don’t want to be accused of being too shrill or dogmatic. Satisfying because when someone hears you about why security is important, you know you are making a difference. Over the past year, I spoke about security awareness to local community groups, professional organizations, and schools. Along the way, I learned that one way to avoid sounding shrill is to tailor the conversation to the audience’s age and perspective. This is partly finding the right examples, but also picking topics that are relevant to how the audience interacts with technology.Less “”parental tech support,”” and more like a “”community awareness training”” event. This talk will help adjust conversations so that the group “”Gets”” why the security topic is important. The audience will walk away with concrete ideas on how they can reach out to their own communities. There will also be a checklist of things that worked, and things to avoid doing again. The goal is to improve security and encourage people to go into their communities and help more people become security-conscious.”