What Wordle Can Teach Us About Cybersecurity

When it comes to fun educational games around the office Wordle is our #1 pick.  Every morning our team participates in the wordle of the day.  It’s a great team building exercise and super fun!  

 

So how can the wordle trend teach us about language and cybersecurity?

 

The game Wordle was developed by Josh Wardle and released to the public in October 2021. Since then, it has gained enormous popularity and spawned numerous sequels. It’s shockingly easy: Each day, players have six chances to correctly identify a five-letter phrase that is generated at random.

This free online crossword puzzle gained so much popularity that it was purchased by the The New York Times Company!

 

Here are 3 things Wordle can teach us as it relates to cybersecurity.

 

1. Keep it simple, and hard enough to be satisfying.
   Wordle is a straightforward game with straightforward feedback and a straightforward method for sharing outcomes. The problem itself is challenging but not overly so. People typically prefer to feel smart than defeated. Many people* find cybersecurity to be pretty challenging, strange, and frightening, and the technology that protects us online obviously requires a certain level of genius. It’s important to remember that some everyday human actions still represent significant security threats. A significant possibility to lower risk is to enlist people’s enthusiasm for being a part of a human firewall.
2. Keep it interactive, it’s about the journey.
   Wordle guides you on a visual journey to assist in problem-solving; you receive immediate feedback in the form of breadcrumbs that point you in the direction of the TOAST. We can guide people toward improved cybersecurity behaviours and help them act SAFER online by keeping the process interactive. It’s time to stop assuming that a single annual mandated training course would suffice; instead, we must consistently keep employees informed and engaged. Influence is a process, not a one-time thing.
3. Create conversation, community, and common goals.
   We are a sociable species, thus people enjoy sharing. Wordle has generated a sense of community, which demonstrates our need to belong to something. We need to make cybersecurity communications interesting and sow seeds that encourage conversation. We must engage in talks anchored in a shared objective to minimize our dangers online as billions of people connect online at home and/or at work.