$"$As cybersecurity leaders, we have to create our message of influence, because security is a culture, and you need the business to take place and be part of that security culture."

$$ Britney Hommertzheim, Director of Information Security, AMC Theatres at SecureWorld Kansas City

The number of cyber threats to organizations across industries and regions is rising at a startling rate. Today, cybersecurity is a critical element that is discussed at the highest levels of an organization to ensure that proper controls are put in place to protect the business, its assets, and people. To that end, it is common for organizations to invest millions of dollars in advance and create sophisticated technical solutions to strengthen their defenses. However, unfortunately, these organizations often overlook the fact that the most vulnerable element of their security posture is not technical, but rather human.

According to the $2021$ Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report Links to an external site., $85\%$ of data breaches involved the human element. The study also reported that phishing attacks continued to trick users; $36\%$ of breaches involved phishing, $11\%$ more than the previous year $($Verizon$,2021).$ So$,$ what do these figures tell us$?$ That's where cybersecurity awareness training comes in$.$ Of course, one of the vital training goals is to develop a robust organizational cybersecurity culture.

Jinan Budge Links to an external site., a principal analyst at Forrester Research, defines cybersecurity culture as "where every person is excited by cybersecurity and motivated to make it better; people understand why cybersecurity is important, and they see themselves as part of the solution." $($Roy$,2021)$ Some of the immediate benefits of a healthy cybersecurity culture include reduced security incidents, lower phishing clicks, and less time spent restoring devices and services.

For this assignment, review the whitepaper "Building A Security Propaganda Machine: The Cybersecurity Culture Of Verizon Media Links to an external site.$$ and answer the following questions:

What best practices does Verizon Media want employees to follow?

What did The Paranoids do to change how employees thought about what they should do$?$ How did they drive those behaviors?

What are some attitudes, values, and beliefs that The Paranoids changed in employees that ultimately drove these new behaviors?