We are Our Own Worst Enemy

There is at least one good thing to come from the increasing number of residential surveillance cameras: we are getting real-time, high-definition looks at criminals in action, like the recent video recording of a Tesla being stolen via an already well-known fob spoofing technique, something I wrote about over two years ago. The unsettling video is only made slightly less so when the car thieves struggle with disconnecting the charging cable from the car, highlighting the irony that a simple electrical cable was almost a better deterrent than the actual key-less entry system protecting the car.

Most security breaches are caused by carelessness or laziness

I’m certain there are statistics to back up this claim, but I’m also relying on decades of anecdotal experience when stating that most security breaches are our own damned fault.  In the above-mentioned incident, the victim admitted to neglecting to protect the vehicle from this sort of theft with Tesla’s “Pin to drive” feature (equivalent to not using a password on your computer or phone), but it’s unclear whether that was because he wasn’t aware it was necessary, or just never got around to setting it up in the first place. Most of the breaches I encounter typically start with someone clicking on a link they shouldn’t have, and 9 times out of 10, when I debrief “patient zero”, they are able to pinpoint the exact moment they screwed up. When I ask them why, the answer is one of these reasons:

• I was in a hurry,
• I didn’t want to bother someone else,
• It looked OK,
• I thought my antivirus/firewall/karma/etc. would protect me,
• My data is backed up, right?

Sadly, none of these, even the last one, is a good excuse, and most of my clients are self-aware enough to this invaluable learning moment to heart. Sadly, despite one or more valuable lessons delivered, even the most paranoid among us will be susceptible to momentary lapses in vigilance and judgement. After all, we are only human. This too is a valuable lesson, and not an excuse to give up in the face of daunting probability. Knowing that we are our own worst enemies will keep us on our toes when we need it most, and if we bolster our defenses with the proper security technology, we are much less likely to be vulnerable when our guard inevitably falters.

Image courtesy of Miles Stuart from FreeDigitalPhotos.net