By: Justin Dempsey, Nex-Tech Technology Services Manager 

Spot The Danger And Alert It

If you have ever seen a prairie dog town, there are sentries posted throughout. Their job is to bark if they see danger. This causes the town to be on alert and helps protect the collective. What does this have to do with cyber security? Some people are better at spotting adversaries than others. By leveraging them, you can help protect your company overall. 

I have been helping companies through their cyber incidents for some time now. Something I hear time and again from staff is “I saw that too; I just deleted it.” The reality is for companies under 500 employees, 1 in 4 phishing emails will be responded to, but only 2% will be reported. The good news is that 3 out of 4 attacks will be deleted instead of responded to. The trick is to get those who spot the phishing attempt to share it with those who do not. Teaching staff to speak up when they see a phishing attempt will cause others to be more alert when checking their email. It promotes a safety culture of awareness, where everyone is open to asking questions related to these types of attacks, in short, a Prairie Dog Culture.  

There are a few ways to go about this. If you have an internal message board, chat (via Teams, for example) or similar tool, have people post what they see and explain how they spotted it, or ask for feedback if they are unsure. If you have a weekly meeting, take turns in bringing a real-life example and share. Or simply, make it a habit to share via email. You want to make sure there is a big, fat tagline “DO NOT CLICK”, so you do not get additional accidental clickers. But once you create this kind of culture this will not be a problem; everyone will be on the lookout.  

The Challenge

I challenge you to go out there and promote a Prairie Dog Culture with your team. If nothing else, it should get a smile and their attention and will help your Cyber training be more effective.