The League of Legends game and human psychology are two things we don’t often associate with cybersecurity.

As an avid gamer, I encountered and observed many parallels between the tactics used to win games like League of Legends and the mentality that guides human behavior in general.

Thus, when I began teaching security awareness and being a part of “the weakest link” conversation, I started to think about how we could address cybersecurity challenges in ways similar to how challenges are addressed in a game.

When I want to win a particular game I put all my energy into:

1.     Focusing on myself
2.     Supporting other players

The hardest thing for me and others to do effectively is to support other players. It’s easier to see their mistakes more than our own, so we tend to fixate on their every erroneous move.

It’s frustrating when someone repeatedly makes the wrong play or does something “stupid.” Consequently, we tend to stop what we’re doing and spend our time typing or saying not-so-great things to the other player in hopes that they’ll see how wrong they were. And this generally has one or more of the following effects on that player:

1.     They get upset and thus become disoriented and distracted, thereby making more mistakes
2.     They become defensive (especially when they weren’t aware of the mistake)
3.     They feel bad and play worse (especially when they were aware of the mistake already)
4.     They “fight back” with an equal amount of aggression and toxicity
5.     They ignore you due to pride and ego

Yes, sometimes you encounter a “national gamer treasure” who responds like a gem: humble, grateful, and motivated to do better. However, these treasures are rare, and though the world definitely (Read more...)