Must have more data…

So, I wrote the first book, Unsecurity based more on experience and less on research. It was easy (well, not “easy”) because the audience for the book were the people in my own tribe (information security people). It was like writing a book to myself.

Now I’m writing the second book, and the audience has changed. It’s a book written to and for non-information security people whom I’ve affectionately called “normal” people. This doesn’t mean that a normal person isn’t awesome or exceptional, they are.  It’s just the word I chose to reference people who aren’t information security folks. Maybe “the masses” is a better reference. We’ll see what makes it into the book.

Anyway, I have a problem. Sort of.

The Problem

I had a revelation while I was writing this book. It came to me while I was writing about how we (security people) make the mistake of assuming we know what the masses think. Even worse, we sometimes tell the masses what the masses think. It’s wrong!

Well, I was about to make the same mistake that I was rebuking other security people about.

STOP!

Don’t you think it makes better sense to ask the masses what they think about information security rather than to assume I know what they think? This book will make a lot more sense and be much more helpful if it uses the same language that the masses use and addresses their concerns!

The Solution

The best way I know how to get answers to the questions I have was to create a simple survey, one that can be completed in five minutes or less. So, I did.

So far I’ve received more than 500 responses to the thirty question survey, and the data is awesome! As I’ve mulled through some of the preliminary data, it’s amazing to see what people think! Who’d a thunk?

500 results gives the survey a lot of credibility. The margin of error is ~5%, which is great! Wouldn’t it be great to get a margin of error of <=3%? I think so, and the only way to get there is to ask for more responses. This is where I’m asking for your help.

Would you be so kind as to take this survey (it’s a safe link) and send it to as many of your contacts as you feel comfortable? The survey link is here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/security_for_normal_people

The better the data, the better the book. That’s the theory at least.

I’ll be writing more about the upcoming book in future articles. I think it’s going to be fun, and it’s going to help a lot of people!

THANK YOU!

P.S. The word map you see as the “featured image” in the title is mapped from the raw input (answers without any filters or changes) to the question “What could information security experts do to help people better?” (in the survey).