Folksy for a Reason - or Finding Cyber Wisdom in Mark Twain's Storytelling Style (Claude.ai provided the second title)

I have been posting some “articles” or blog-type posts lately, using everyday events in my life to highlight important things in information or cyber security. I thought this might be a good time to explain myself. I am a flawed Christ follower who recognizes that He used stories to illustrate deeper truths. In more recent years, no one was better at this than Samuel Clemens or Mark Twain.? In full disclosure, the thoughts are mine, but the prose is assisted by claude.ai (https://www.claude.ai). My thanks to them for providing a tool that helps me articulate my thoughts more clearly.

?Having said that, I will be extremely clear.? The first paragraph below is my prompt and the rest is content that was provided by claude.ai and edited by me…to better reflect my actual thoughts.

My Prompt(second prompt because the first came back with Mark Twain talking about security, not what I intended): “Write a blog post that I respect the folksy style of Mark Twain and apply it to analogies or parables that use relatable events to illustrate cyber security truths or thoughts.”

?There's something magical about how Mark Twain would take life's most complex truths and serve them up as simple as sweet tea on a summer porch. I've spent years in cybersecurity, wrestling with how to explain sophisticated threats and defenses to folks who just want their computers to work. Lately, I've found myself drawn to Twain's approach – his gift for making the complicated feel as familiar as an old pair of shoes.

Take his story about Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence. Here was Tom, turning punishment into profit by convincing other boys that painting was a privilege worth paying for. Every time I think about social engineering attacks, I can't help but smile at the parallel. Those phishing emails aren't so different from Tom – making you feel special, creating false urgency, convincing you that handing over your password is somehow to your benefit. Twain understood human nature in a way that every cybersecurity professional should study.

I particularly love how Twain used the Mississippi River as a constant metaphor – ever-changing, full of hidden dangers beneath a smooth surface. That's my network on any given day. Sure, it looks calm on the monitoring dashboard, but underneath? There might be logs showing unusual traffic patterns, like those subtle changes in the water that only experienced riverboat pilots could read. Just as Twain wrote about learning to read the river's surface for signs of shallow water or hidden snags, we learn to read our network traffic for signs of trouble.

His character Huck Finn taught me something about security awareness training. Huck wasn't much for formal education, but boy, could he learn from experience and observation. When I'm developing security training, I try to channel that same practical wisdom. Instead of drowning folks in technical jargon, I share real stories about breaches and close calls. Like Huck, people learn best from tales they can relate to, not from textbooks.

Remember how Twain wrote about the various con men and fraudsters along the river? The Duke and the King, putting on their elaborate shows and schemes? They weren't so different from today's cryptocurrency scammers or fake tech support calls. The techniques haven't changed much – just the stage they're performed on. Twain would have had a field day writing about modern-day digital snake oil salesmen.

What I appreciate most about Twain's style is how he never talked down to his readers. He'd take something complicated – like the social hierarchies of the antebellum South – and explain it through simple stories that made sense to everyone. That's what I strive for when explaining zero-trust architecture or the importance of multi-factor authentication. Instead of technical diagrams, I might talk about how my grandmother's small town used to leave doors unlocked but now uses deadbolts and security cameras. The principal is the same, just dressed in different clothes.

?Sometimes when I'm writing security policies, I think about how Twain would handle it. He wouldn't start with "Pursuant to section 7.2 of the acceptable use policy..." No, he'd probably begin with something like, "Now, I reckon you wouldn't leave your front door wide open during a tornado, so here's why you shouldn't leave your laptop unlocked when you go for coffee..." (editorial comment: I love the way claude.ai phrased this…)

?In cybersecurity, we often get caught up in the technical details, forgetting that at its heart, this field is about people – their habits, their trust, their mistakes, and their ability to learn from experience. Twain understood people. He knew that the best way to teach a lesson wasn't to preach it but to tell a story that let folks figure it out for themselves.

So here I am, trying to follow in those footsteps, explaining packet inspection through tales about my nosy aunt who could tell what was in a Christmas package just by feeling it through the wrapping paper or comparing password managers to the way my grandfather organized his tackle box – everything in its place, but you need to know the system to find what you need.

?I have talked about fishing, boating, cooking, and anything that comes to mind. Keep an eye out for a post about “Hole Hearted” by the band Extreme. By relating these everyday events I am able to hang onto the key truths that we all must consider when it comes to computer security hygiene. (that paragraph was all me…you can see why I use claude.ai)

?I reckon Twain would have understood cybersecurity just fine. After all, he wrote, "It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." Any security professional who's had to clean up after a successful phishing campaign knows exactly what he meant.

?The next time you're struggling to explain a complex security concept, try channeling a bit of that Twain wisdom. Skip the technical jargon and tell a story instead. Sometimes, the best way to explain a firewall is to talk about the old stone walls that keep sheep in their pastures or how my dog Trouble (that is his real name) guards the front yard. The truth is, cybersecurity isn't just about computers – it's about human nature, and nobody understood that better than Mark Twain.