Bethany Alvaro 
New research from Flinders University has disclosed how one of the biggest issues plaguing cyber security is language.
However, contrary to what companies may think, technical jargon isn’t the issue. It’s the failed attempts at over-explaining them.
The research, Grok Hackspeak? Communicating Cybersecurity with Figurative Language, found that while organisations view figurative language and metaphors as the clearest way to explain to the general public intricate cyber security terms, the study suggests otherwise.
“These terms weren’t designed for the public in the first place,” said the author of the study, Associate Professor Sky Marsen.
“They emerged from inside hacker culture, and terms that may sound creative and playful within expert communities, are often opaque to outsiders.
“When they are used in public communication, they can obscure rather than clarify what’s happening.”
The research ultimately concluded that using clear, non-metaphorical terms and explanations of cyber incidents was a much more effective way to communicate digital threats and security.
But the issue doesn’t end here.
Even without using metaphors or figures of speech, for people not in cyber space, words like ransomware and phishing are widely misunderstood.
As part of the study, researchers found that when explanations of cyber attack incidents were presented to participants in literal ways, they were understood more clearly.
“Organisations routinely tell customers they’ve been hit by phishing or a malware attack, but if people don’t fully understand what that means, they may not know how to respond or protect themselves,” Marsen said.
“Worse is that unclear communication can downplay the responsibility of organisations, or leave users vulnerable.”
Marsen said that, in the age of cyber crime growth, this is an important distinction for businesses to be aware of.
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