Security Education Starts With the Person You Are Trying to Reach

Ben Halpert was working on a dissertation when a different question occupied his attention. He had been speaking to parents about online safety, but he wanted to reach children more directly. In his Fireside Chat conversation, he described asking himself:

“how do you teach cybersecurity concepts to a three year old”

Ben Halpert, Fireside Chat archive

The question required a different kind of communication. Technical experience did not automatically tell him how to explain personal information or online strangers to a child. He needed to understand the audience and find a form that could make sense to them.

He went to a bookstore, read children’s picture books, and drafted one of his own. Publishers rejected the manuscript. In his account, one response nevertheless recognized the idea’s value while questioning its commercial prospects. He went on to establish Savvy Cyber Kids and publish educational materials through the nonprofit.

The classroom shaped what came next

Halpert described starting with a picture book, a lesson plan, and activities, then visiting preschools to use them. The book’s characters adopted cyber hero identities as a way to introduce the idea of protecting personal information online. It was an attempt to make an abstract security concept understandable through a child’s world.

The program expanded through requests from educators. After a session, someone would ask whether he had material for older students. He would go back and develop it. Over time, the work extended to different age groups and to educators themselves.

The important part was the feedback. Halpert described asking schools what they had tried and what had failed to resonate. He wanted to understand how children needed to hear a message, rather than assume that an adult’s preferred explanation would work for them.

Expertise needs translation

The story offers a useful lens for professional security education as well. An expert can know a subject thoroughly and still choose examples, language, or a format that leaves the audience behind. Teaching asks the expert to pay attention to what the learner can understand and use.

That is an editorial connection to Halpert’s account, not a claim that children and employees need the same materials. His own experience argues for the opposite: different audiences require attention to their circumstances, and feedback should influence the design.

Halpert repeatedly returned to educators to understand what was working and what needed attention. Their questions became a reason to develop the next lesson, rather than an interruption to a finished program.

His contribution was more than simplifying technical words. He kept returning to the audience, asking what they needed, and changing the material accordingly. Security knowledge became more useful when it was shaped for the people expected to act on it.

Listen to the original conversation with Ben Halpert → · Read the transcript →

From the Fireside Chat archive. This article is an editorial reflection on the original conversation, not a new interview or an update on the guest’s current role.