The Psychology of Information Security

by It Governance Publishing (Editor)

In today s corporations, information security professionals have a lot on their plate. In the face of constantly evolving cyber threats they must comply with numerous laws and regulations, protect their company s assets and mitigate risks to the furthest extent possible. Security professionals can often be ignorant of the impact that implementing security policies in a vacuum can have on the end users core business activities. These end users are, in turn, often unaware of the risk they are exposing the organisation to. They may even feel justified in finding workarounds because they believe that the organisation values productivity over security. The end result is a conflict between the security team and the rest of the business, and increased, rather than reduced, risk. This can be addressed by factoring in an individual s perspective, knowledge and awareness, and a modern, flexible and adaptable information security approach. The aim of the security practice should be to correct employee misconceptions by understanding their motivations and working with the users rather than against them after all, people are a company s best assets. This book draws on the experience of industry experts and related academic research to: Gain insight into information security issues related to human behaviour, from both end users and security professionals perspectives. Provide a set of recommendations to support the security professional s decision-making process, and to improve the culture and find the balance between security and productivity. Give advice on aligning a security programme with wider organisational objectives. Manage and communicate these changes within an organisation. Based on insights gained from academic research as well as interviews with UK-based security professionals from various sectors, The Psychology of Information Security Resolving conflicts between security compliance and human behaviour explains the importance of careful risk management and how to align a security programme with wider business objectives, providing methods and techniques to engage stakeholders and encourage buy-in. The Psychology of Information Security redresses the balance by considering information security from both viewpoints in order to gain insight into security issues relating to human behaviour, helping security professionals understand how a security culture that puts risk into context promotes compliance. Leron Zinatullin (zinatullin.com) is an experienced risk consultant specialising in cyber security strategy, management and delivery. He has led large-scale, global, high-value security transformation projects with a view to improve cost performance and support business strategy. He has extensive knowledge and practical experience in solving information security, privacy and architectural issues across multiple industry sectors. He has an MSc in information security from University College London, where he focused on the human aspects of information security. His research was related to modelling conflicts between security compliance and human behaviour. "

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 26, 2016

Reviews

[John Ellis]

Often we infosec professionals get caught up in the esoteric details of threats, vulnerabilities, latest APT or eCrime group yet lose sight of the human element and the impact our designs and operations have on the usability of technology solutions.

This book is provides a great reminder about human/user centric design and seeking out and aligning security controls and operations with the intrinsic motivations of users.

Highly recommend this book.

[Johnny Cheng]

A great book explains how psychology can help information security

I have heard a lot of security professionals struggle to maintain effective measures, as they consistently see user non-compliance behaviour. This long-standing problem never ends and causes business risks. This book reveals the root cause of the problem and motivates security professionals to rethink our approach to security.

Friends and colleagues tell me that Leron's subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without taking it to the reader. I was not disappointed with The Psychology of Information Security. I can easily follow the book because it starts with discussing various symptoms of the problem, and then analysing the mentality of users and security professionals to gradually develop the idea of revealing the underlying cause of the problem. It also encourages us to change our attitude when implementing and monitoring security controls. Leron tackles the key to success - how user decision-making processes work and what contributes to the extraordinary success of the security culture, and as a result, organisations will be much safer. That is crucial in today's environment.

Psychology must be an integral part of information security, as a security professional we need to know what and how people think, and how we should use technology to enable employees to perform business tasks in a secure way to help build a secure workplace for the company.

I highly recommend this book to all levels of security professionals. This book is valuable, as it can be used as a guide for management in security strategy and planning and as a guide for security personnel to incorporate the essential elements into the implementation and monitoring of security controls.

[J]

Zinatullin's The Psychology of Information Security illustrates the importance of pragmatic information security practices within the workplace. He utilises some insightful everyday analogies to encourage a better understanding of security, especially for those not in the field of information security, but also encourages information security professionals to understand the frustrations faced by staff as they complete their required tasks.

This book is concise and clear with pragmatic and easy to implement suggestions, combining key business strategy concepts and industry leading information security frameworks. I believe this book is a must for any professional in information security, and highly recommended for anyone interested in this field.

[Qi Peng]

Zinatullin provides a succinct and intriguing view of the human side of cyber security, one which is often overlooked.

[Barsa]

Great book. Really enjoyed reading it. Good introduction to information security with some practical tips on improving security culture.