Request Cyber Security Awareness Ranking System

plat

Level 29
Thread author
Top Poster
Sep 13, 2018
1,793
First, apologies for sounding off in a member's configuration; I ask that the forum administrator please move the relevant posts into this thread to keep the other one pertaining to security software and stuff.

When this self-ranking system was introduced into the Configuration wizard, I thought it was ranking you as knowing something about cyber security relative to everyone out there, not within the confines of just this community. I consider myself an Average user and rated myself accordingly, even though there was an underlying "no, no, that's not right." And guess what, it's not. I didn't look, but is there an explanation in greater detail about the Awareness ranking system?

Furthermore, it's not always at face value; several that I have seen are CLEARLY not low as they've facetiously ranked rated themselves "low" to get out of a level that has been occupied by some maybe not worthy of that "high" ranking. But then, this defeats the purpose of the ranking system and diminishes its intended value. So, can consideration be done to either modify this current system or replace it with another that members can't self-apply? Admittedly, I don't know of any replacement, except for the one that was in place previously. It might go a ways in helping some like me curb one's temper when baited by offhandedly nasty remarks and clear up any misunderstandings about where a given member stands in the great scheme of things.

Any constructive criticism is appreciated, believe me.
 

Jack

Administrator
Verified
Staff Member
Well-known
Jan 24, 2011
9,377
Hey @plat1098,
I've removed this field from the configs. It was added because we thought that it would help when suggesting other members security software. The field wasn't meant to reflect how knowledgeable the member is about the Windows operating system or the in-depth knowledge of Cyber Security, but how aware a member was of the phishing, scams and other social engineering attacks. I agree that we should have published a thread about how a member should rank himself but then again everyone should know how aware is he. A good example would have been a test like this: Take Jigsaw's Phishing Quiz
The field didn't add anything to the account, and was only visible in the thread with the config so this is why we've allowed the members to chose their awareness.

Anyway, I've removed this field because most people were rating themselves as Average even if they clearly had a High level of awareness, while other were just thinking that this was a way to boost their confidence. We've tried it, it didn't work... let's move on. :)
 

SHvFl

Level 35
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Nov 19, 2014
2,342
Hey @plat1098,
I've removed this field from the configs. It was added because we thought that we would help when suggesting other members security software. The field wasn't meant to reflect how knowledgeable the member is about the Windows operating system or in-depth knowledge of Cyber Security, but how aware a member was of the phishing, scams and other social engineering attacks. I agree that we should have published a thread about how a member should rank himself but then again everyone should know how aware is he. A good example would have been a test like this: Take Jigsaw's Phishing Quiz
The field didn't add anything to the account, and was only visible in the thread with the config so this is why we've allowed the members to chose their awareness.

Anyway, I've removed this field because most people were rating themselves as Average even if they clearly had a High level of awareness, while other were just thinking that this was a way to boost their confidence. We've tried it, it didn't work... let's move on. :)
Such scales are too hard to measure as they are not quantitative but qualitative. Without defining the scale it doesn't work at all for someone trying to read it or scale themselves.
It was a good idea to be removed as at its current state it meant nothing. For example I put average as simply I didn't know how to scale stuff. I sure know what phishing and social engineering is but that maybe doesn't mean I am at high because I don't keep up with current methods and trends? As I said you need to define the scale to have even relevant results.
 

shmu26

Level 85
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Jul 3, 2015
8,150
Such scales are too hard to measure as they are not quantitative but qualitative. Without defining the scale it doesn't work at all for someone trying to read it or scale themselves.
It was a good idea to be removed as at its current state it meant nothing. For example I put average as simply I didn't know how to scale stuff. I sure know what phishing and social engineering is but that maybe doesn't mean I am at high because I don't keep up with current methods and trends? As I said you need to define the scale to have even relevant results.
@SHvFl this is all your fault, lol. I saw that you rated yourself as average, so I downgraded myself to average, too. :)
 

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