I am happy to announce that it has been confirmed that the U.S. Department of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has chosen a flyingpenguin slogan as their winning entry in a Security Awareness Slogan Contest: “Control, Alt, Delete Before You Leave Your Seat.”

The slogan was posted back in 2006.

Few of us are probably lucky enough to invent something as contagious as a Security-Tubby or a Barney character. Instead, we are stuck with the task of creating “fun” posters with slogans.

One of my more successful ones so far has been based on the saying “Ctrl-Alt-Del when you leave your seat”.

People tell me that no matter how rediculous they might find security slogans at first, eventually this one grows on them and they can’t help but sing it aloud when they leave the office. You know you have won over your users when they start to beg for more effective ways to comply with the “Ctrl-Alt-Del song”.

Apparently it will be used throughout the TSA and perhaps even in other departments. It already is one of my most popular (#6) blog entries of all time.

I thought I should mention it also because a Government CIO article recently suggested there was no good marketing in security awareness:

In short, our users are experiencing the same vacuum of effective messaging about security that the average person watching nothing but fast food commercials would be receiving about health.

Watching nothing but fast food commercials would be a health knowledge vacuum for the average person? Not sure I agree, although I don’t watch them so what do I know?

In any case, as I have presented in “There’s No Patch for Social Engineering“, slogans are not miracles and language is just a tool. But if users are open to communication from their IT department a little word smithing and some poetry can go a long way.