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Explaining Security with Metaphors

I wonder if people might struggle less with computer security if we employed metaphors for previous technology.

People have attempted to get videos off the internet, showing a clear misunderstanding how how computers work. If they thought in terms of many people photocopying a picture, I’m sure they would understand how futile the efforts are.

People get phished all the time, because they believe the ‘FROM: ‘ field far too quickly, but if those same people received a letter saying ‘hello this is the king of england’, they would spot the ruse immediately.

People don’t have a problem with security because it’s complicated (nothing is complicated[a]), they have a problem because nobody explained it to them.

[a]