Using Similar Strategies as Public Health Could Improve Cyber Security

In a new paper by a team of economists and public health researchers, maintaining good “cyber hygiene” and improving overall cyber security can be achieved by mimicking public health strategies.

  • Nov 30, 2012

The paper written by economists and public health researchers at RTI international, which demonstrates ways to increase cyber security, takes a look at how public health strategies and research methodologies could be used to guide cyber security strategies.

Currently, no centralized approach has been successfully used to coordinate action in improving cyber security. The government has played a relatively limited role, developing standards for industry and distributing education materials to schools and civic organizations, but most of the focus has been on business security.

The public health community has been very successful in identifying, monitoring and reducing the health impacts of many types of threats,” said Brent Rowe, a senior economist at RTI and the paper’s lead author. “Given the many similarities between public health and cyber security, the cyber security community would be wise to leverage relevant public health strategies and analysis techniques.”

The paper takes a detailed look at public health frameworks that can be used to identify and describe specific cyber security threats and potential solutions. According to the authors, some of the key lessons from the public health community include introducing potential solutions to individuals in a way that establishes a measure of trust, communicating the nature of threats and interventions to a wide variety of audiences, providing solutions in a convenient and attractive framework and considering the unpredictability of individual behavior.

“Although the idea of organizing the community of cyber security stakeholders similar to the complexity and scale of public health is daunting, public health research, implementation and evaluation strategies offer a wealth of well-tested approaches that could be easily leveraged to study cyber security topics, such as how to better understand cyber security risk preferences,” said Michael Halpern, Ph.D., a senior public health researcher and an RTI Senior Fellow.

Featured

  • Video Surveillance Trends to Watch

    With more organizations adding newer capabilities to their surveillance systems, it’s always important to remember the “basics” of system configuration and deployment, as well as the topline benefits of continually emerging technologies like AI and the cloud. Read Now

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services

  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.