Re: [fw-wiz] The home user problem returns

tbird_at_precision-guesswork.com
Date: 09/20/05

  • Next message: RUXCON Call for Papers: "[fw-wiz] RUXCON 2005 Update" 
    To: Elizabeth Zwicky <zwicky@greatcircle.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:36:59 -0700

    Quoting Elizabeth Zwicky <zwicky@greatcircle.com>:

    >
    > On Sep 13, 2005, at 12:23 PM, Tina Bird wrote:
    >> i disagree. i don't know *anyone* who willingly makes a fundamental,
    >> significant change in their behavior without pain as a motivator.
    >
    > On the one hand, I agree with Tina -- people change their OWN
    > behavior based on their OWN pain. On the other hand, this insight
    > leads people to some terrible attempts at training, because people
    > (dogs, cats, octopus, anything with a brain of reasonable size)
    > do not respond effectively to imposed pain. Positive training
    > methods always work better on long-term measures.

    correct, as we expect from elizabeth :-) most of the time when i'm presenting
    the use of endpoint enforcement techniques to system administrators (the folks
    who will be managing the systems) and their end users, i start by
    describing it
    as a reward system for proper configuration, rather than a punishment system
    against incorrect or compromised configurations. it's the same as the
    artificial ignorance approach to log management, or good ol' deny all firewall
    rules. the list of "things that absolutely ought to be configured this way" is
    shorter than the list of all possible things that should be prohibited.

    so of *course* most folks won't want to do that.

    unfortunately, i am consistently told by marketing folks and journalists that
    rewarding the right behavior isn't sexy enough to be newsworthy. apparently
    selling "a kick ass system for maintaining proper system config, and
    simplifying enterprise desktop management" doesn't work - but "scan and block"
    or "worm preventers" or "quarantine solutions" will. i think it's absurd, that
    stupid reactive approach to life. it was much easier to get the UNIX
    sys admins
    to adopt security mechanisms by pointing out how much easier they make system
    management, but apparently that's not always a good sell for the desk top
    folks. i don't get it.

    tbird

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