Existential Angst in the Cyber Realms

It was just another evening, and I was diving deep into the world of cybersecurity. I'd learned a lot from my conversation with Pascal Steichen, founder and CEO of the Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity. Imagine, if you will, a hacker inching their way into the heart of an organization, a digital burglar infiltrating impenetrable vaults.

Once they're in, they roam the network undetected, compromising other systems at will. They deploy their arsenal: keyloggers, trojans, and spyware. The breach widens. Yet, a question lingers: Is the technology to blame, or might the heart of the problem lie elsewhere?

Exponential Dread and Human Psyche’s Door

Look around; the tech glitz of the 21st century might have - quite surely - outpaced our emotional evolution. Tom Chatfield argues “We have introduced something exponential into the equations of planetary time”. The stakes are sky-high. Either we adapt, or we get left behind, in cyber limbo - or worse.

But what's the connection between our fast-paced world and the dark alleyways of the web? It's like the peculiar Japanese vending machines where you can buy photographs of strangers, a bizarre but intriguing longing for connection. Or those 19th-century charlatans on gaslit streets peddling miracle cures, feeding off our anxieties.

Delve into the world of phishing, a modern iteration of age-old deceit. I'm currently writing a piece for the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology—detailing the history of these treacherous tactics. Permit me a momentary detour to a year etched in cyber infamy: 2000. The “ILOVEYOU” email deceived solitary countless souls with a fake declaration of affection. The serenade was indeed a trap; the Love Bug didn't just nibble, it devoured, consuming millions of machines worldwide. A prime example of how digital puppeteers can play upon our core existential cravings.

But this deceit stretches deeper:

• The mirage of significance: ever enjoyed over-due acknowledgment, or yearned for a nod of validation? Exploiting this very vulnerability, attackers mark fresh recruits, those eager to make their mark and na?ve to the world of deception. Impersonating authoritative figures like a CEO, they manipulate the innate human need for recognition.
• The autopilot trick: ever heard of the "corporate drone" effect? Lulled by the monotony of daily tasks, the guard drops, making one susceptible to impulsive reactions—especially in that early pre-caffeine daze. The blurred lines between the humdrum and the unusual obscure our vision, muddling genuine requests from malevolent ones.
• Other Pandora’s boxes: romance scams tug at the heartstrings, while tales of extravagant rewards entice the hopeful. In the workplace, this may seem a distant threat. But imagine intertwining office romance with a compromised email address. The aftermath? Catastrophic, to say the least.

Age, a seemingly innocuous factor, also matters. As Lauren Schenkman notes, the seasoned among us—often wielding power and possessing digital assets —are more oblivious to these pitfalls. And universally, across the age spectrum, the allure of authority-laden emails is nearly irresistible. Our innate need for order, to conform and adhere, leaves us prone to such appeal.

Lonely Hearts In The Cyber Void

Pause and reflect upon the nature of human bonds in this relentless, ever-turning world. Theo G. van Tilburg classifies our solitude into three: social loneliness, emotional loneliness, and existential loneliness. Social loneliness refers to the absence of a broader group of contacts or an engaging social network, while emotional loneliness originates from the absence of an intimate figure or a close emotional attachment. Existential loneliness, on the other hand, is characterized by not connecting with others and the world outside, alienation, feelings of isolation, emptiness, and abandonment, and is associated with mortality's haunting shadow.

Blend this with the schemes we've journeyed through, and dare argue that cybersecurity is merely a game of tech wits. Cyberthreats prove that our heart's vulnerabilities can eclipse even the gravest computer system flaws.

Conclusion: Heart Over Machine

If there's one lesson to etch into one's conscience, it's this: When it comes to cybersecurity, understanding the human psyche isn't just beneficial—it's imperative. Thinking of trapping your employees with a phishing attack campaign led by an ethical hacker? As eloquently put by Angela Sasse, this can definitely backfire and make employees feel betrayed and shamed by their company. Building bridges of trust with your staff, not setting traps, is the path forward.

I will conclude with a personal anecdote of mine. I went through such a blame-and-shame campaign at a former job. The fallout from this fake-phishing campaign was bleak. The ones behind this grand ruse then devised a treacherous encore: linking the subsequent trial's outcomes to the staff’s year-end performance assessments. A game of deceit and stakes.

Did their stratagem work? To a degree. Yet, the undercurrents of resentment were palpable. There was a tangible disdain for an establishment that heaped on daily pressures, yet skimped on providing employees the arsenal to fend off these very threats.

Rather than crafting such a deception, would it not be wiser to cultivate an environment of trust? Sasse further elucidates that the shadowy realm of security breaches flourishes amidst silence and shame. “It’s very important to get people to talk about security and help each other”, she underscores. To better grasp this, one just needs to contemplate, if you will, the potential birthplace of these breaches—a solitary, anxious individual, inadvertently causing chaos, as they strived to stave off an incepted doom, or simply find some meaning, and validation.

#CyberSecurity #CyberThreats #PhishingAttacks #HumanFactor #DigitalDeception #ExistentialAngst #DigitalTrust #EmotionalIntelligence #HumanPsyche #WorkplaceTrust #21stCenturyTech #DigitalEvolution #SocialEngineering #DigitalVulnerabilities #BuildingTrust #HumanVsMachine #CyberAwareness #CyberEducation #DigitalWorld #OrganizationalCulture #DigitalSecurity #DigitalLoneliness #EmployeeEngagement