Stories help understand
Awareness Short Stories
Get people interested in IT security and data protection, preferably before there is an incident in the house.
Clicking through documents and tests is boring and nothing sticks. In the employees' perception, such training courses often only steal their time. And it is also "completely unnecessary". I know. "It just has to be that way." ... But ... Does it?
Interesting stories in which everything that can go wrong does go wrong reach us on a completely different level than dry security or data protection trainings. In a completely human way and with concrete examples, we understand possible dangers and the effects, also on the individuals.
An Example
"Eerrrrrr!"
from: Santa Automation Datahub. Or: Where is Norbert?
Bernhard looked at the input field. He was sure that he had entered the right password. The same as every day since the system change to SAD, the Santa Automation Datahub. He typed it again.
"Eerrrrrr!"
Bernhard rubbed his pointed elf ear. What was going on?
"Eerrrrrr!" also made the device at the workshop gate next to him. Rudi and Dasher were just holding their collar tags to the scanner.
"Eerrrrrr!"
"The quick reigndeer code doesn't work," Dasher groused.
"I can't get in with my password either," Bernhard replied. "Try the hoof recognition. We ordered it specially in case one of you should ever lose a collar."
"Eerrrrrr!" went the device, which looked like an oversized bathroom scale.
Rudi stepped off the device. "What's going on here?"
"And how do we get in now?" asked an elf in the line that had by now assembled behind Bernhard and the reindeer.
"Norbert, let us in," Bernhard said in the direction of the small red and white striped box at the workshop gate.
Nothing happened.
"Norbert, let us in!" he tried a little louder.
No response. The screen was black and stayed that way. No digital helper to rush to their aid.
"Where is Norbert?" asked the elf woman behind Bernhard.
Where purely factual information is abstract and far away for us, stories are concrete and we can easily understand them. In this way, they can significantly increase the interest of employees. If the stories are also technically correct and comprehensible, they provide the ideal basis for further training measures.
Further information from you complete the picture. Successful were, for example, expert talks in the house a week after the story appeared: What is the case in the story and how did it happen? How could it have happened in our company ? if at all? What measures do we have in place to prevent such a thing from happening?
Awareness stories are no substitute for a decent security training, but they do increase your employees' willingness to deal with security and data protection issues.
Together with a fellow author, I have been writing awareness short stories for an Austrian corporation since February 2021. During this time, the in-house measures on IT security issues have been linked to entertaining stories, they have been more popular with employees. The feedback is consistently positive.
I look forward to contributing to more awareness and thus to more security at your business with exciting stories in the near future.
Current Stories
Santa Automation Datahub (GER)
It's December 23 and nothing works at the North Pole. The workshop, packing station and bakery all stand still. Can the elves and Heidi, the security polar bear, still save Christmas?
Murderboard (GER)
Where Crime Fiction, Privacy and IT-Security Come Together
Co-Author: René ‚lynx‘ Pfeiffer
Featured by DeepSec
Murderboard (EN)
Where Crime Fiction, Privacy and IT-Security Come Together
Co-Author: René ‚lynx‘ Pfeiffer
Featured by DeepSec
You have these options
Story as a Service
Story Subscription
With the Story Subscription, there is no customization for your company. So you don't have to worry about anything, prepare briefings or adapt your internal training. Every month, a story on a current topic in IT security or data protection simply arrives in your mailbox as an ebook for your employees. All you have to do is forward it to your employees or upload it to your intranet.
Most important
- One story on a current topic every month, delivered directly into your inbox, incl. a link to a news site about the case on which the story is based
- Länge der Geschichte: variabel, ca. 15 Normseiten
- Delivery as ebook (epub, Kindle & PDF)
Price
depending on the number of employees in your company
from EUR 175 per story
that's EUR 2,100 per year (plus VAT)
paid annually
Best Offer
One story free!
starting at EUR 2.100 EUR 1,800 per year (plus VAT)
If commissioned by 23.02.2023.
Adapted for you
Ready-Made
Existing stories written by me will be adapted slightly, e. g. so the culprit does not accidentally bear the name of your CEO. Finished stories are currently available in the genre of crime fiction. Science fiction is also possible, feel free to write me an email.
Most important
- Minor adaptations of an already existing story according to your briefing (change of names of acting persons etc.)
- Lead time: 1 to 2 weeks
- Story length: 12 to 20 standard pages
- Delivery as ebook (epub, Kindle & PDF) and PDF print template (A5)
- Optional: Hörbuch (plus EUR 400,-)
Price
ab EUR 600,- (zzgl. USt)
per story
Tailor-made
Full-Custom
The stories are completely customized, i.e. written from scratch. In this case, after your briefing (and of course an NDA), existing systems are incorporated (e.g. cash register system in the cloud, password manager available or not, production system with or without connection to the Internet, etc.), so that the story could really take place directly in your company.
Most important
- Freshly written story for your company, according to your briefing
- Incl. one full revision loop
- Lead time: 4 to 6 weeks
- Story length: 12 to 20 standard pages
- Delivery as ebook (epub, Kindle & PDF) and PDF print template (A5)
- Optional: Hörbuch (plus EUR 400,-)
- Optional: two languages German / English (price on request)
Price
ab EUR 1.000,- (zzgl. USt)
per story
Wait, why would we hire Klaudia?
Because I have a lot of experience in writing, in making complex topics understandable, and a background in data protection and IT security. And because I love bringing all these different fields together.
My resume is my qualification. From 1998 to 2005 I studied philosophy and English language and literature. Master's degree. I took all the Creative Writing semminars I could get. At the University of Hanover, master students were taught together with teacher training students, so I got a complete pedagogy degree on top. In addition, I did a voluntary internship at a school. Then I got stuck in adult education. I taught English for several years and completed a trainer training and refreshed my trainer's license here in Austria a few years ago.
During my studies, I lived in a dorm exclusively with computer scientists for a few semesters. The almost weekly pop-up "Would you like a coffee?" meant that there was once again someone to help with a hardware problem. In the process I learned a lot about hardware, but also about software and subsequently web development, and from then on I not only wrote texts but also built small websites. Early two thousands, mind you. My interest in text and technology always ran parallel since then and I did alternating jobs with writing or with technology: community archive – internet service provider – law firm library – copywriter at a social media agency – trainee at a large daily newspaper – PR agency with clients like EA and Apple Austria – project manager for web development at a large agency, then at a small one – publication of my first crime novels – Copywriter for an agency in a project for Google – started to advocate for privacy and get involved in the CCC – organized the annual PrivacyWeek – project manager at a small internet service provider, then at a large one – training as a data protection officer – examination to become a privacy expert – supervision of technical projects at NOYB, then data protection agency – self-employed with writing and data protection. Et voilá.
Contents
Over the years, I have built up a large network and if I don't know something, I always know who to ask. The contents of all stories, including those within the story subscription, are discussed with IT security experts and/or data protection lawyers and checked for plausibility. I usually simplify technically complex issues to increase acceptance among readers.
Workflow for the Story Subscription
- You hire me and tell me the mail address of your IT security or data protection officer.
- I will enter this address in the distribution list.
- Upon receipt of the payment, you will receive the finished ebook files for your in-house communication at the beginning of each month.
Workflow for Ready-Made & Full-Custom Stories
- After commissioning, we get started.
- You give me a briefing. This usually takes place online in a video conference room. Either via your own software solution or my BigBlueButton server.
- Your briefing covers the topics you are currently training internally and what aspects, if any, are taboo in your company culture.
- In order to be able to deal with your individual systems and company-specific details, I will gladly sign a confidentiality agreement from you.
- After the briefing, I will create a suitable story for you and send you a preliminary version for review.
- Then you have one week to send me feedback on whether the story fits. If there are delays on your side for whatever reason, the story project will be delayed accordingly. If there are delays on my side, I will of course contact you immediately.
- With full-custom stories, there is a full revision loop where any company cultural specifics are reworked. In the past, there have been cases where customers have noticed during the review process that a certain topic that played into the motif of the crime story was a problem for communication. Of course, I take this into account during the revision process.
- Should you also want an audio book for your story, I will need about a week additional turnaround time for that.
- You will receive the finished files for your in-house communication.
Formats
ebook (epub, Kindle, PDF)
For each story you will receive the ebook formats for your internal communication, e.g. for distribution via your intranet. With the ebook files your employees can feed their possibly existing reading devices or read the PDF on the company computer.
Print PDF
Printed booklets of the stories have proven very successful; displayed in the canteen or in meeting rooms. This way, employees can "snack" on the stories during their lunch break, and the contents become subject of discussions during the break.
Audio book
Audiobooks are well received by many employees, not just those in the field, people with low vision or other impairments, and non-native speakers. Many also simply love the format. Audiobooks are an ideal companion on the way to work or home.
Since I have a voiceover training, I'm happy to record your stories and add your sound logo or intro/outro if you wish.
You receive the audio books as ready-mastered MP3 files and can then make them available to your employees together with the eBooks, e.g. on the intranet.
Legal
Licenses
When you buy awareness stories from me, you are not buying the story, but the license to use it for your internal communication. You do not have the right to publish the stories on your website, in your customer newsletter or by any other means or to disclose them to a semi-public. The rights to publish a story remain with me. A total buy-out is not provided, even for full-custom stories. If you need this, please contact me and we'll find a solution.
In case I publish stories after the end of your usage time, I will of course anonymize them, i.e. take out specific product or software names (exception would be solutions available to the public like certain messengers or online searches, etc.).
Duration of use
We agree on the duration of use before the contract comes into effect. For example, "for one year from purchase" or "until the end of the internal training campaign".