What Is Your InfoSec Song?

April 3, 2017  |  Bob Covello

Think of one of your favorite empowerment songs. A song that inspires; a song that matters.

Sing along with the sound in your head. Sing until it affects you the same way it does when you hear it coming out of your speakers or blasting in your headphones.

Now, stop and think for a moment: What is it about that song that makes it special to you?

Perhaps it is a particular word, a phrase, the way it is built up to a tension point and then released. Or maybe it is a special cadence or other harmonic development that makes it special.

Music communicates on a deep level that goes beyond the mere notes and words. It makes us feel a special connection; it transcends!

Can the “music” of InfoSec be just as impactful as that special song? How do we communicate our message? Take something as simple as how you start your sentences. Do you begin describing a security concept with “The problem is . . . “, or do you approach it in a way that is more inspiring than the traditional impending doom-speak so common in our profession?

I can name at least one song that actually begins with the words “The problem is . . . “ but that is not the point of this. (It is also not a very uplifting song.)

Think about how you construct the narrative when speaking, writing, or in any way communicating your vision of Information Security to others. Is it possible to start slowly, with an idea that you can grow into a chorus that will appeal to others on the same level as that song that makes you feel empowered?

Please don’t write an InfoSec song, there are enough of those, and while many are quite good, they entertain the already initiated few of us. Instead, think of how you can start with the idea of security and grow it into the main point that you are trying to convey. Words without music.

Can you relate your point to a story? People love stories, and our field is filled with wonderful, sometimes riveting tales that makes what we do interesting. Tell the story the same way that a good song leads up to the “Hook” that drives the message home.

Remember, you are the face of information security in your organization, amongst your friends, and wherever else you go where you are known as the subject matter expert. If your song is one of doom and gloom, whenever those folks see your face or hear of information security, they will get triggered into feeling doom and gloom.

If you have ever tried to write lyrics to a song, you will know that it is not easy. Lyricists are a special breed who know how to reach into the soul.

InfoSec is also not easy. But rather bemoan the difficulties of communicating our vision, perhaps it is time for us to find a way to reach into the souls of those we want to touch, not through fear, but through empowerment.

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Tags: infosec

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