The Public Has a Cybersecurity Awareness Problem
A new study shows most Americans fail to understand basic cybersecurity concepts…
An article review.
Considering that many of us live in a world where cybersecurity related subjects are commonplace, continuing awareness programs may sometimes seem excessive…after all, we’re all familiar with the basics by now, right?
Well, a new study recently published by the Pew Research Center shows why awareness is a job that is never really complete: less than half the people polled knew what “Private Browsing” mode did, or what “HTTPS” meant in a URL.
It wasn’t all bad news however, as the study only included ten questions, and at least one–the question with the lowest number of correct answers–didn’t seem to apply to cybersecurity at all: participants were asked to identify the CEO of Twitter in a photograph. Additionally, over half the participants were aware of what a phishing attack was, that cookies can track website activities, and that social media sites’ largest form of revenue was advertising to users.
Still, the lack of awareness around subjects such as two-factor authentication and HTTPS serve as a reminder of why we must treat awareness training as a continuous process…We can’t assume anything is “common knowledge” even if they are subjects we’ve been covering for years. After all, not everyone is immersed in technology, and we all could use a reminder from time to time.
Original article by Tom Spring writing for ThreatPost.
