Securing the Human (STH) is a third party information security awareness service provided by the SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security (SANS) Institute, a cooperative research and education organization. STH provides security training and security certification through various video modules.
The video modules that are a part of STH include subjects comprised of browsing the Internet, social networking, social engineering and more.
Information Security Policy, Awareness and Training Coordinator Jennifer Eckrote described the modules as entailing “different things that the university is held accountable for and that we need to make sure that people understand what that means to them or at least what that means to the institution.”
STH implicates an introductory video, and 12 additional video modules that range from two to five minutes.
The total amount of time that it takes to complete STH is 45 minutes.
The Insider Longwood University blog reports, “STH is online and audiovisual based Information Security Awareness Training (SAT) that
includes generic reminders of secure computing advice, with customized references to Longwood Policies and expectations, personalized for each user, based on their security roles and responsibilities.”
For specific departments that require more role-specific security information, the SAT can provide further modules on additional information.
Eckrote estimated that roughly 1,085 total people must complete the training by Oct. 31.
The deadline for the Longwood community to complete STH is Oct. 31. All individuals who do not complete STH by the deadline will not have access to their LancerNet ID, their email, Banner or to the Canvas website. According to Longwood University Policy 6131, regarding Security Awareness and Training, all faculty, staff, Longwood University Foundation employees, retired staff, student workers and any other individuals approved for access by the Chief Information
Officer must complete STH. As reported on the Longwood University website, Policy 6131 states, “The purpose of this policy is to identify the conditions necessary to provide information technology system users with appropriate awareness of system secirity requirements and of their responsibilities to protect information technology resources and systems.”
All required individuals who must take STH were registered October 2012.
Assistant Vice President of Information Technology Services, and Information and Security Officer Bob Smith said the reason for having the deadline at the end of October is because October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), a national initiative dedicated to raising awareness and educating Americans about cyber-security.
NCSAM is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
The previous security awareness program that the Longwood University Information Security Department utilized was called Managed Ongoing Awareness and Trust (MOAT), which was provided by the vendor Awareity, a private organization that focuses on information security.
Smith described MOAT as text-based and would involve various multiple-choice and true and false questions.
Concerning the questions provided in MOAT, Smith said, “If you answered it wrong, you would get back to the text at the beginning of the module and you would start again. The problem is that when you would get to the end, you got the same question again. So, if it was true and false, it was pretty easy to work your way through it, and what most people figured out was they could just click through the same exercise.”
Smith stated that many people who used MOAT would “click through all the questions and answers, and just going, ‘Now, I’m done. I got it out of the way.’”
Smith added that based on feedback from surveys on MOAT, many individuals commented negatively on the programs, stating that there was not enough visual learning within the program.
The MOAT program costs roughly $8 per person, while the STH program costs roughly $1 per person. All funds to run the program are provided through the Operation Budget from the Longwood University Information Security Department.
For individuals who fail to complete STH by the deadline, call the Help Desk at (434) 395- 4357 after completing STH from a home or public computer.
