Opinion

Industry View| Ira Winkler on Awareness Training

Awareness training is great when people can hurt only themselves. But when people can hurt others, stronger measures are required

By Ira Winkler

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What it comes down to is that there are hard costs being absorbed by society because of poor computer security awareness.

In the real world, this would be a no-brainer. After all, you have to properly maintain your car or you have to take it off the road.

If your house is a mess, that is your problem unless it begins to attract rats and becomes a health hazard to your neighbors. Then, you can be fined until the situation is corrected. You can also be evicted or your house can be condemned if you allow the situation to go on. Everyone can apply for a driver's license. However, that license can be taken away if you endanger others when you drive.

Why, then, are people allowed unfettered access to the Internet, even if they clearly demonstrate that they are an imminent danger to others? It would be great if awareness training were successful and would make a significant impact. The reality, though, is that awareness training has proven itself less than reliable in making any significant improvement in the overall security of the Internet.

More important is that the threat to innocent victims continues to grow, as we seem to be relying only on security awareness and the lack of responsibility on the part of others.

Ira Winkler is president and founder of the Internet Security Advisors Group (ISAG). Contact him at ira@isag.com.