January 8, 2013

The Value of a Hacked PC graphic, which I published on this blog a few months ago to explain bad guy uses for your PC, is getting a makeover. I’m honored to say that the SANS Institute, a security training group, has taken the idea and run with it as an educational tool, and is in the process of translating it into 17 different languages.

A graphic put together by the SANS Institute, based on a diagram produced by KrebsOnSecurity.com.

A graphic put together by the SANS Institute, based on a diagram produced by KrebsOnSecurity.com.

A high-resolution version of the poster above is available from SANS’s Securing the Human Web site.


17 thoughts on “‘Value of a Hacked PC’ Graphic Goes Global

  1. Osama S.

    I liked your mind map better 🙂
    Not a very good infographic.

  2. Anja

    Agreed, and not to sound like some elitist graphic designer (which I probably will) but it vomits glows and colors that aren’t necessary and intrude upon the most important elements – the info bits. Sorry 🙂

    1. Blaise

      Brian’s mind map IS better, it has threats organized by category and the viewwer gets some sense of how threat vectors relate to each other.

      The SANS folks removed the information and dumped the text data on a colorful background. I suspect “design by committee” strikes again.

  3. all eyes on as

    To the Best FSB agent Brian Crebsky .Brian we salute you , Comrade .

    YPA , YPA, YPA .

    1. peter mcleod

      Hello all eyes on as,
      what is YPA? I’ve googled it and got nothing real estate agents – here in Australia that is.
      Just curiosity.
      Thanks,
      Regards

      Peter in Sydney NSW

  4. Selim

    the simple mind mapped is way better than this scary poster

  5. Ben

    It would be great to have a simpler layout on a white background, suitable for printing in monochrome.

    As it is it looks like a resource exhaustion attack on your printer ink.

  6. Steve Sanford

    Nice to see SANS giving Brian credit and a link to the website, it gives SANS a touch of class!

  7. Seth

    Gross.

    Glowing, blurry everything, an insipid spooky hand coming after devices, and way, wwwaaayyy too much text to make the poster useful as a quick reference.

    How am I supposed to print this without spending $40 in ink?

    I’ll keep using your simple, printer-friendly graphic Brian.

    1. Rod MacPherson

      i agree that Brian’s version is easier to read, but this is meant to catch someone’s attention and is supposed to be printed at 30.25″ x 21.25″ At 11″ x 17″ it looks much more readable. at the full poster size I imagine it is much better. SANS has a tendency to create posters like this with too much text on busy backgrounds though. It’s sort of their “style”.

  8. Jay Wocky

    I went to the url in the middle of the poster in order to subscribe to OUCH, “a security newsletter designed to help people just like you.”

    Obviously, SANS has me confused with people who are willing to give lengthy and detailed personal info, including work phone #, just to get a free newsletter via email.

    After trying several times to register without filling in most of the starred fields, I finally gave up. I’ve done without OUCH for this long. Guess I’ll keep on doing without.

  9. Steely

    The information on the poster is good, but it may be an overload for the average user. When I showed it to two of the users in my organization, they both thought it was too intense and one (a technically proficient user who is very experienced with Linux computing) mentioned that it presented a lot of potential problems without any specific ways to avoid them.

  10. muffin

    i agree with steely’s comment. the poster is of no use to me because it doesn’t tell me what i can do to prevent hacking. and yes, hats off to SANS for giving brian credit.

  11. boonD0x

    Well, it’s a start… This is SANS default template for their Awareness materials though.

    As mentioned before, they could’ve done a better job at this, and hopefully our feedback will help drive improvements.

    Kudos Brian…

  12. Sari

    Hey, Brian! Don’t I get any credit for convincing you to revive this graphic for the 2012 CyberCrime Symposium! 🙂

Comments are closed.