Have you noticed that computer issues are gradually getting more press coverage? Not only have major online news sources like USA Today and CNN added technology sections, but reports regarding cyber attacks and Internet threats are reaching wider audiences. So which messages are getting through and which ones are not?
If you take a step back and think about the essential role that the Internet, cell phones and other gadgets now have in our lives, the gradual rise in coverage seems rather insignificant or even obvious to most. And yet, I remember coverage a decade ago - which was nothing like today. This coverage has certainly spilled- over into the goo, the bad and the ugly in cyberspace.
Take, for example, a report issued by IBM yesterday which received very widespread media coverage. The Internet Security Systems X-Force report was described by the Associated Press (AP) and released to hundreds of media outlets worldwide such as the Washington Post.
Here's an excerpt from the AP article:
"The IBM report found that the tools criminals use to generate their attacks _ known as exploit code _ are appearing online faster than before.
The time from vulnerability disclosure to the availability of exploit code or a working attack has typically been measured in days or even weeks as criminals try to get their arms around a newly discovered weakness."
While the information in this report won't surprise most security professionals, the coverage certainly surprises me. What can we take away from this trend?
1) Our audiences at work are more tech-savvy than many of us think.
2) The "consumerization of Information Technology (IT)," as Gartner calls it, is becoming more widespread and important.
3) Read reports from these popular news destinations, and not just technical magazines, to see what the mainstream media is talking about in technology.
I can be tempted to read security magazines all week, but that lingo is not as helpful in reaching wider end-user audiences. I now try to keep track of the "hot" issues facing the "average Joe" at the office by alos reading the technology sections from major newspapers.
Clearly, technology has arrived along with sports and money as top topics of discussion for the majority. The question is: "how can we refine our security messages at work so that people listen."
