◇ OpenCyber Academy
Technical · Chapter 6 · English

Chapter 6 — Human factors and cyber policy: system model

Open, free learning for anyone who wants to protect people and technology. No account is required to read this text or its worked answers.

Chapter 6 — Human factors and cyber policy: system model

Lesson map

Lesson 06 published. Map, example, EX021.

flowchart TD
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["6.1 The process"]
  N2["6.2 Where reports are lost"]
  N3["Lab — Reporting process losses by step"]
  N4["6.3 Improvements by step"]
  N5["Synthesis"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> N5
  N5 --> EX["Worked example"]
  EX --> Q["Exercise EX021"]

Logical drawing

flowchart LR
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["6.1 The process"]
  N2["6.2 Where reports are lost"]
  N3["Lab — Reporting process losses by step"]
  N4["6.3 Improvements by step"]
  N5["Synthesis"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> N5 --> Q["EX021"]

[Learning outcomes]
    |
    v
[6.1 The process]
    |
    v
[6.2 Where reports are lost]
    |
    v
[Lab — Reporting process losses by step]
    |
    v
[6.3 Improvements by step]
    |
    v
[Synthesis]
    |
    v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX021]

Learning outcomes

You will (1) model the reporting process from message arrival to feedback; (2) identify steps where reports are lost; (3) choose improvements by step.

6.1 The process

Priya models reporting at Kestrel as a series of steps: a suspicious message arrives; the person notices; they decide to report; they find how to report; they send it; IT reviews; IT replies. If any step fails, the warning never reaches IT or the reporter never learns whether they were right. She draws the process with arrows and adds where each step happens, such as on a warehouse terminal, an office laptop or a driver's phone. Tom reviews the drawing. He suggests labels.

6.2 Where reports are lost

Using survey answers and the reporting export, Priya estimates how many potential reports survive each step. Many staff notice suspicious messages, but fewer decide to report because they are unsure whether IT wants them. Some cannot find how to report on phones. The lab multiplies the step rates to estimate how many of every hundred suspicious messages become reports with replies. The biggest loss is at the decision step, which tells her where improvement matters most. She shares the result with the IT lead.

Lab — Reporting process losses by step

# Reporting process losses by step for 100 suspicious messages (synthetic).
steps = [("notice", 0.75), ("decide", 0.40), ("find how", 0.80), ("send", 0.98), ("IT review", 0.95), ("reply", 0.95)]
n = 100.0
for s, r in steps: n2 = n * r; print(f"{s}: {n:.0f} -> {n2:.0f}"); n = n2
print(f"replied reports: {n:.0f}")

Run with python3 lab_steps.py. Verified output:

notice: 100 -> 75
decide: 75 -> 30
find how: 30 -> 24
send: 24 -> 24
IT review: 24 -> 22
reply: 22 -> 21
replied reports: 21

6.3 Improvements by step

Priya chooses improvements by step. For the decision step, a clear message from managers that unsure reports are welcome. For finding how to report, a report button in email and a short phone number for drivers. For feedback, replies within a working day. She estimates that fixing the decision step would add more reports than the other two combined. Modelling the process turns vague concern about staff awareness into specific, targeted changes. The operations manager approves all three changes. Work starts the following week.

Worked example

Priya models reporting as seven steps, finds the decision step loses most and targets improvements by step.

Synthetic case. Rates are synthetic.

Errors and limits

Step rates are estimates. Steps interact.

Exercises

Synthesis

A step model shows where reports are lost and which fix matters most.

Continue studying — chapter 06 of 18

← Chapter 05 (draft) · Course chapter index · Chapter 07 (draft) →