Invisible criminal
The biggest threat is the one you can't see.....
Information security
It’s in the news almost every day. Another massive data security loss. Personal details, private lives. The only thing you can say about information security is… well, it isn’t very secure.
Nobody intentionally leaves their laptop in a taxi or their house keys in their front door. Most of us are conscious of our personal security – we all know if we leave a window unlocked then we’re vulnerable to a break-in. Employees should be aware that this same principle applies to security at work, and more importantly that security starts with them.
Forward-thinking companies have adopted stringent and far-reaching security measures but as we all know, your security is only as good as the people who implement it. So how do you get your employees not only to listen, but to change their behaviour, so that the most effective firewall is actually them?
- What’s the damage
The cost to business is undoubtedly huge, but the cost to your reputation is incalculable. Investing in how you communicate a complex and sometimes intangible threat can help to mitigate the risk.
- It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it
Film offers a powerful way of imparting information in a visually dynamic way. Viewers are encouraged to reflect on their own behaviour as the consequences of someone else’s actions unfold. Seemingly innocuous omissions, a careless word, unthinking behaviour; these are the things that undermine security. A film can tell a story; one that could so easily be their story.
- Film to engage, print to inform, conversation to remember
Training employees so that they take responsibility for security is the most powerful reason to use film. You can support that message in print to elicit the detail and promote discussion.
The brief
The NHTCU needed to improve businesses’ understanding of the damage caused by e-crime and how employees are often the gateway to breached online security. They wanted a powerful video sequence that could be shown as a conference opener and training film among other uses.
The creative approach
We used sophisticated graphics to create an ‘invisible’ criminal, an elusive, shimmering figure who boldly walks around a company’s offices unchecked. This figure represents the risk inherent in online security, and the vulnerability of companies whose employees fail to take personal responsibility for maintaining their online protocols.
The story is related from the perspective of the leader of a high-tech crime ring, who tells us how easy his job is. The company that is targeted has all the security systems in place – security guards, CCTV, firewall and antivirus software… and yet this undetectable figure bypasses them all, logging on to the computers of people who leave their passwords out, helping himself to sensitive information left on people’s desktops, or using staff email addresses to request documents. These scenes are interspersed with statistics revealing the extent of the problem in UK companies.
However, far from heading a sophisticated ring of criminals, it becomes clear that it is the company’s own employees who have allowed security to be breached.
Related work
- ‘Spider’. Film for SOCA
Originally commissioned by the National High Tech Crime Unit as a high-impact ‘opener’ for an international security conference, this film has been used with great success in presentations with businesses around the world.
- ‘Crow’. Film for ABN Amro/RBS
Atmospheric film for bank workers to encourage them to be vigilant when working away from the office.
- UK Online for Business, DTI
A series of printed guides and CD-ROM-based information, commissioned by what was then the Department for Trade and Industry, detailing how to make the most of information technologies and information security.
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