You need to explain your company’s security requirements to customers. How can you make sure they understand?

Different geographies and industries will have their own standards, regulators and legislation which you can refer to in order to create a commonly understood context for your security requirements. For example, data encryption or data purging requirements could have been directly referenced by a local privacy regulator, or could have featured in a recent security incident at an industry peer. Understanding your audience can also help you to understand what they're most concerned about when it comes to security - for example in manufacturing, they may put far more emphasis on preserving availability of systems rather than confidentiality of data. Finally, assume zero knowledge and avoid acronyms. If they want more detail they will ask.

Different layers of organisation look at security in a different aspect. You need to know what exactly to communicate to that particular stake holder. Are they worried about the attack surface or the cloud posture or does the compliances eat up their head or is it the business impact. The interest varies in every layer.

In order for customers to understand our company’s security requirements, it is important to tailor our communications to their background and technical familiarity. For example, when dealing with non-technical customers, we need to use plain language to avoid jargon and provide real-life examples to illustrate points. Conversely, when communicating with technical experts, we can analyze more technical information and use industry-specific terminology. Overall, by understanding our audience and adjusting our approach accordingly, we can better articulate our security needs and ensure clarity and understanding.

- Try to identify your audience 1st. If the audience belongs to different levels of society and education you have to make a plan to address them all commonly so then they get your message in black & white.

Begin by identifying your audience and avoid technical jargon and use plain language that is easily understandable by a non-technical audience. Share relevant and relatable examples to help customers understand the potential risks and the importance of security measures. Conduct training sessions or webinars to walk customers through your security measures. Maintain regular communication to update customers on any modifications or developments in your security measures. By integrating these approaches, you can develop a thorough and efficient communication strategy to guarantee that your customers comprehend and adhere to your company's security requirements.

??The key thing any customer wants from a consultant is solution, because the customer believes the consultant to be a subject matter expert (SME). ?Having this thought in mind, the consultant should first understand the customer pain points and how the solution can alleviate it. ?Then, explain to the customer the business value she will get by adopting the solution you recommended. This should be explained in cost vs benefit manner, in business terms that will make clear the value sought. ?After that, get to the technical details of how the solution work, explain them in a manner that will be analogous to real life things. Make sure you explain as logical as possible, because the human mind cannot understand and store illogical things.

Regardless of which area you will contact and explain your points and requirements, the communication language must be clear and objective. In this sense, making comparisons with everyday life, bringing real scenarios to compare with a product or security requirement is essential to facilitate everyone's understanding. Therefore, ensuring that the result of this requirement is implemented and that everyone is aware of the positive impact generated by this implementation is essential.

Customize your explanation to the technical expertise of your customers. Use clear and concise language, avoiding technical jargon whenever possible. Use real-world examples to demonstrate complex security concepts. This will help customers understand the practical implications of your requirements Provide additional resources, such as FAQs or knowledge base articles, for customers who want to learn more about your security practices.

To convince people that security is necessary, we need to work on some aspects. Bringing a vision of the risks associated with not using that security method, and generating visibility of the gains that the company will have with that implementation is essential. We know that in many moments security goes against changes in the user experience, and this must be overcome with a good defense speech.

Once the security requirement and need has been explained, it is important to demonstrate that you are prepared to carry out that activity. A security professional must always be able to carry out the actions and explain what is being implemented. Through this, and considering networking and a network of contacts that support you in this professional protection, success will be easier.

En mi experiencia es fundamental utilizar un lenguaje sencillo, y adaptar el objetivo a un caso de la vida cotidiana capaz de ir asociando los conceptos; ademas es importante la retroalimentación y con ello asegurarse de a través del feedback que se entienda la comunicación. Es importante construir una buena comunicación para obtener los resultados y aprender de las lecciones a medida que incorporamos nuevos conceptos de seguridad.

Feedback is a fundamental area for any improvement of the system and the security professional. Knowing how to listen and understand points for improvement, as well as absorbing positive points and repeating them will make your results and metrics always better, always guaranteeing the satisfaction of your customers and the safety of an organization.

Es necesario realizar una división e incluso sub-división del riesgo que puede tener cada tipo de cliente: no se puede brindar una charla de concientización y prevención a quienes manipulan directamente información, que a ejecutivos que manejan otros perfiles. En mi experiencia personal, un documento distribuido antes de cualquier interacción con el cliente con gráficas ilustrativas claras en cada uno de sus segmentos y en coordinación con un departamento de comunicación y relaciones públicas tendrá un mayor impacto.