Security Personality Profiles

Security Personality Profiles

Graham Westbrook, Living Security's Dir. of Intelligence & Content, applied his forensic psychology expertise to develop the Security Personality Profile (SPP) assessment: a cognitive-behavioral survey for security awareness with predictive utility. It is designed to help security awareness program owners better understand their employee bases in corporate America, where they are often treated as a monolithic group but are actually unique in their behavioral patterns, characteristics and value-assumptions. Once program owners have an idea of WHO their people are, WHY they do certain things and WHERE their strengths lie, they have the tools to begin building a security program that is necessarily more empowering than punitive. For this reason we provide our clients with a holistic assessment to identify statistically significant outliers and commonalities among employees. This full version of our personality assessment provides a greater caliber of scientific rigor. Below are the four personality types broken down.

Watch Dog

Watch Dogs are straight-laced, safety-first and have an innate sense of right and wrong. They are highly intelligent and wish to spend their energy maintaining order. Watch Dogs would be the first to tell you it’s a badge of honor to be the neighborhood watch. They think the internet is like a digital playground with no one on recess duty... They are the keen observers of security violations in the workplace... And they are the ones who would post “Caution! Your computer has no brain… use your own!” posters all over the cube farm if it was socially acceptable.
The Watch Dog strength lies in risk-avoidance. They are hyper-vigilant around strangers and unknown callers because they are aware of the risks associated with being gullible. In fact, as long as their risk-aversion is not rooted in irrational fear, Watch Dogs can be the best mentors and confidants to employees struggling with new technology. Friends don’t let friends forget safety! After all, the best safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it!

Crypto Cats

Crypto Cats are digital natives who don’t mind jonesing around the office with their new tech toys. By adopting new technology early, Cats are fluent in computer specs, the latest video game flops and the Comic-Con scene. But don’t mistake their nerd pride for hubris. Cats can be consummate security pros. Multi-factor authentication and password managers are old news. Blockchain is a knuckle-tat talking point. Secure decision-making is a lifestyle.

The Crypto Cat strength is head knowledge. They know their stuff and they know that they know it. As long as they share that brainspace with others and learn to be patient with mortals, they can significantly improve outdated security in their environment. They’re not anti-social by nature, just not immediately user-friendly...

If you want to get on their good side, just offer them !

Zen Fox

At home and in the workplace, Zen Foxes are the glue that holds everything together. They are comfortable around people… empathetic to co-workers dilemmas… and passionate about building relationships with others. Everything is a trust-exchange. If their friend from down the hall is trustworthy and needs to borrow a pen, the Zen Fox is clutch with a spare. If a stranger looks lost and needs to find the I.T. server room, the Zen Fox points them toward the restroom and calls security.

The Zen Fox strength lies in discernment. When they are on their game, a Zen Fox can smell a scam from a mile away. Such level-headed foxes dispense trust sparingly. As long as they remember to stay in tune with people AND the latest technology, they will stay relevant and energized in the workplace... so ‘namaste’ doesn’t become “namaste in bed, Zzzzz….”

Digital Narwhals

Don’t mistake Digital Narwhals for hipsters. Ya, they are are known for their inventiveness and creativity... their unique ability to observe their surroundings... and their quirky solutions to problems. But they are exceedingly sophisticated and sensible. Narwhals are the ones who hide valuables in bookshelves or keys in artificial rocks. They like to make custom door jams out of scrap wood. And if hackers come knocking, Narwhal ingenuity will send ‘em on the goose chase of their lives…

The Narwhal strength lies in seeing what everyone else sees, and thinking what no one else has thought. Like, oh, instead of answering all these security challenge questions truthfully they’ll just answer them all dishonestly in a way they’ll remember. That way they’re winning even if their answers get stolen by some two-bit in North Korea. If Narwhals can stretch themselves to share their great security ideas with their community, they will improve security AND relationships all-around.