Things We Can Learn about IT Security from Halloween…

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As I think about October 31st and all the trick-or-treaters, I realized that many of the recommended Halloween safety tips have an IT security equivalent.  Just as parents keep their kids safe, IT security needs to do the same for its company’s employees. Here are just a few in no particular order**:

**As a note, the Halloween tips below and more can be found at http://www.halloween-safety.com/

• “Instruct your children not to eat any treats until they bring them home to be examined by you. This way you can check for any problem candy and get the pick of the best stuff!”
  • Implement anti-malware and anti-spam. It’s so important to check for malicious content before consuming it.  Train the employees appropriately for being security-aware. Don’t open suspicious attachments and better yet, don’t open malicious emails period.

• “Teach your kids about not getting into strangers cars or talking to strangers, no matter what the person says to them. Explain to them as simply as you can that some adults are bad and want to hurt children, that they should never go into a house that they don't know, get into a car or go anywhere with a stranger. Also, tell them what to do should this happen, to scream as loud as they can to draw attention and to run away as fast as they can to someplace safe.”
  • Implement an enhanced web filtering solution to prevent employees from visiting malicious or suspicious web sites.  As a complement, also train employees to be careful online as malware and other threats can be downloaded and compromise desktops, laptops and other devices. 

• “Know the route your kids will be taking if you aren't going with them. Let them know that they are to check in with you every hour, by phone or by stopping back at home. Make sure that they know not to deviate from the planned route so that you always know where they will be.”
  • Good security planning and policy is key.  It must be implemented easily too.  That’s the only way to keep things predictable and under control to ensure the overall security of employees and corporate assets.

• “Be sure walking areas and stairs are well-lit and free of obstacles that could result in falls.”
• In the IT security world, visibility is a requirement too.  Be sure you have good visibility to the applications, devices, and users on the network to keep them safe and in good order.

As you can see there’s a big trend here.  Parents must teach their children well, and in the same way IT security must provide proper training to employees to fully support and complement the technological safeguards that organizations implement.

What other IT security lessons can we learn from Halloween?

Be safe out there.