EPISODE 43: Not Everybody Does It Like US…So Hire Anthropologists in Cybersecurity!

Compromising Positions - A Cyber Security Podcast

This episode we are joined by the wonderful Jamie Sherman, a cultural anthropologist and principal UX researcher at ESRI.

We explore how words like ‘security and privacy’ are slippery and that can lead to a lot of confusion and misunderstanding.

How to ask better questions to really understand how to protect the people and our customers in an organisation and how to create the perfect ‘sniff test’ in our organisations so people feel more able to trust their intuition rather than relying on crap passwords.

And Finally we unpack the importance of hiring more anthropologists in cybersecurity because not everybody does it like us.

Key Takeaways:

Anthropology in Cybersecurity: A Game-Changer
Anthropology isn’t just the study of ancient cultures—it’s about understanding how people make meaning in their lives today. Anthropologists, through methods like ethnography and participant observation, can uncover the human side of cybersecurity, ensuring that security measures align with real-world behaviours, not just technical protocols.

What does ‘Security’ actually mean? Words are Slippery We don’t always have a shared meaning for terms like “security” and “privacy.” Misunderstandings can lead us down the wrong path, creating a sense of betrayal. It’s essential to ask, “What is security to you?” and make security visible without overwhelming users with cognitive load.

Sniff the milk, is it off? Traditional security measures, like passwords and phishing awareness, often overload users with cognitive demands. But what if we focused on building intuition instead? We can help users develop a gut sense of when something feels wrong—an essential skill in a world where data is constantly on the move and always at risk by triggering the same responses when we sniff off milk!

Asking the Right Questions: Better questions lead to better security controls and a deeper understanding of user needs.

Links to everything we discussed in this episode can be found in the show notes and if you liked the show, please do leave us a review.

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We hope you enjoyed this episode - See you next time, keep secure, and don’t forget to ask yourself, ‘Am I the compromising position here?’

Show Notes

Pumping Iron - Give it a watch!

Over Half of Cybersecurity Professionals Engage in Risky Behaviours at Work - KnowBe4

Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo - Mary Douglas

About Jamie Sherman

Jamie Sherman is a cultural anthropologist and principal UX researcher at ESRI. She holds a PhD in anthropology (Princeton, 2011) and has been in the technology and UX space since joining Intel Labs in 2012, where she worked on a range of existing and emerging technologies, including wearable tech, virtual reality, and content creation. Her most recent focus is on the use of data and analytics to do things, from making movies to making maps.

LINKS FOR Jamie Sherman

Jamie’s LinkedIn

Keywords: cybersecurity, anthropology, user behaviour, privacy, UX