The Art of Storytelling in Cybersecurity

Storytelling has been an integral part of human culture since the dawn of civilization. From myths and legends to modern day books and movies – for millennia, stories have kept people entertained and have helped people understand the world around them.??

But stories are much more than entertainment alone. They provide a sense of connection and community. They convey emotions, values, and experiences. And they help people understand complex topics like cybersecurity!?

Storytelling is an important tool we use in cyber to articulate challenges and opportunities, risks and mitigations measures – from the classroom to the boardroom. On the latest episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea, I wanted to discuss the intersection of storytelling and cyber awareness, so I invited actor, producer and startup co-founder Tim Murck to offer his point of view. Here are a few highlights from our discussion that resonated with me – the full episode is available here .??

?Storytelling as a learning mechanism.?

Tim started our conversation discussing Flavour, the company he co-founded, and HackShield, the cyber awareness game produced by Flavour. I was curious about their approach to using storytelling to teach complex topics. Tim began by emphasizing how to activate the brain, commenting, “There is something very interesting in how we learn. If you really want to change behavior, you have to use all different parts of the brain to give them (people) the tools to see things differently. So for instance, when we learn kids about phishing, then we always also use a character–we call it the Phishing Lynx because it really visualizes the whole aspect of it– and we give concrete examples of phishing.”?

?Teaching a young audience through immersive stories.?

HackShield is a gamified experience for kids to help them learn about dangers of cybercrime and the internet, and to help them develop skills they can use to protect themselves. Children have access to technology at a much younger age than in the past, and educating them early and often is critical. I wanted to explore the methodologies used by HackShield to educate a younger audience. Tim offered his perspective, “I think the cool thing about storytelling, and especially gamification, is that you can let a kid experiment with how it is to be a (cyber) victim and how it is to be a perpetrator without having to deal with real-life consequences. So, it's, like, the most impactful way of learning. It's the most immersive way of learning. And, to be honest, I don't think that's just for kids, but it's just the best way to learn.”?

Cyber learning as a team sport.?

It will take the work of many to ensure a safer digital future, and I am a big believer that cybersecurity is a team sport. To that end, I am fascinated by the dynamics of teams, and the way that storytelling impacts learning amongst teams and groups. I asked Tim his perspective on this, and he shared, “HackShield is maybe the best example. We train kids to become junior cyber agents. So, we use a game for them to train, and they have a lot of fictional characters that help them with all the different subjects. But then we really stimulate them to transfer the knowledge towards their parents and grandparents, or to their parents and grandparents and friends and classmates, et cetera.? I's not only the best way to remember something yourself if you are stimulated to explain that what you learned to somebody else, but it's also a very nice way to motivate the culture.”?

?My conversation with Tim was unique and insightful, and I hope you will give it a listen. For the full episode and more Afternoon Cyber Tea, visit www.afternooncybertea.com . New episodes are released every other Tuesday and are available on the Cyberwire and most major podcast platforms.?