What roles do humans play in cyber breaches
The most precious asset of any company is its data, and most employees have access to this confidential information. As a result, they serve as the first line of defence in the event of a cyberattack. But to gain access to the company’s network and steal important data, hackers use sophisticated ways to target weak personnel and unprotected devices. The vast majority of cybersecurity services issues are caused by human error. Many workers are already conscious of the risks that mistakes can introduce.
According to a survey, errors made by employees are to blame for about 88 percent of all data breaches. Furthermore, 60% of cybersecurity experts acknowledged that their workforce is the weakest link in IT security.
It is imperative that businesses and workers take action to decrease the attack surface and establish a strong cybersecurity culture.
Why are humans the weakest link in any organization?
Even with the use of developing technology and tight cybersecurity legislation, the threat landscape is ever more complicated and dangerous. Against this expanding threat environment, 57 percent of firms believe that their IT security team may be infiltrated, and their personnel pose the biggest threat to cyberattacks.
Data breaches are still being caused by people, who are the weakest link in any company organisation. According to the Verizon Data Breach Incident Report 2022, humans were involved in 82 percent of cyberattacks. When we talk about the human factor, we imply that a breach could happen as a result of someone opening a link in a phishing email, using the same passwords repeatedly, or using the internet without masking their IP address.
For instance, the renowned venture capital company Sequoia Capital experienced a hack in February 2021. Employees were duped by a phishing scam, and as a result, the company’s investors’ personal and financial information was made available to other parties, leading to the hacking event.
In addition to this, there are a few additional factors that expose employees to risk:
Inadequate software security
When a task is repeated frequently, workers frequently act carelessly. It makes their work less concerned with accuracy and more on efficiency. As a result, they begin to disregard appropriate security standards and processes, frequently jeopardizing the organization’s overall cybersecurity. Even worse, they skip upgrades because they take more time or because the pop-ups are annoying, leaving software open to online attacks.
Additionally, some workers are still using outdated software that has known security flaws. They often utilize this type of software not because it has unique features but because they are accustomed to it. Additionally, workers occasionally disable security update options because they believe it would interfere with their work. Such behaviors jeopardize the organization’s overall security.
Low security awareness
Malware, spyware, or ransomware can be quickly installed by hackers using irresponsible or exposed staff. The majority of employees are not very aware of the constantly increasing cyberthreats and attacks, which leaves them open to criminal actors attempting to obtain company data.
Employees even download or use unapproved software, endangering the security of the company. Even though not all software is harmful, it could include flaws that let a dangerous threat into your system.
Mishandling data
Every day, workers deal with enormous amounts of data, but they don’t always handle it correctly, which causes data leaks. They might email the incorrect employee important information. The majority of workers are in charge of sending several emails each day.
The sensitive information is accessed by an unauthorised individual by inputting the recipient information incorrectly. Without recognising how critical certain files are, they can even delete some essential files in order to free up space. According to the Verizon survey, 20% of data breaches are the result of uncomplicated errors like sending the incorrect email to the wrong recipient or having IT administrators configure their cloud accounts incorrectly.
Effective ways to reduce human errors
Investing in a comprehensive strategy and set of policies is the greatest method for firms to minimise human error and manage the dangers of cyberattacks. Additionally, they must make sure that workers adhere to practical advice to improve the cybersecurity culture.
Here are some strategies for lowering the risk of human error:
Reduce attack opportunities
Employee error is less likely when everyday work habits, technologies, and culture are changed. The following are the ideal strategies to begin the mitigation efforts:
- ensuring that workers only have access to the data they need to do their jobs. By doing this, the amount of information a worker has is reduced, and even if it is hacked, the damage is not significant.
- Users that reuse or share their passwords frequently make blunders involving passwords. Encourage your staff to choose secure passwords that are difficult to decipher. They can also make use of password managers, which take the hassle out of making and remembering secure passwords.
- A zero trust strategy will improve network security and aid in preventing illegal access.
- It is crucial to guarantee that staff members use cybersecurity tools like VPNs and antivirus software at all times. A VPN protects your communication by encrypting the data transmission. The antivirus programme creates alerts from viruses and malware and stops them before they may do damage.
Additionally, organisations can automate operations to save time, increase worker effectiveness, and lower the risk of human error. Employees can concentrate on performing other productive duties by automating some error-prone procedures.
Addressing lack of awareness and knowledge with training
Along with minimising the likelihood that employees may make mistakes, it’s important to address the root cause of these errors. To achieve this:
- Enable employees to make decisions by prioritizing security and seeking help from others if they are unsure of what to do or don’t understand the repercussions of their choices by educating them on core security procedures.
- Employee engagement must increase and security-related topics must be consistently discussed. Each employee participates in ensuring organisational security in this way.
- Install security reminders like posters or online things with security advice. This can be of great assistance to new hires who are not connected to the IT department.
- Encourage staff to report any indications of a data leak and teach them to recognise the numerous social engineering strategies that hackers frequently employ to breach the company network.
Organizations must also closely watch the actions of their personnel. Insider threats from employees could lead to a data breach. Tools for monitoring can spot fraudulent activities and protect the system from intrusions or data loss.
Final thoughts
The majority of the time, human error results in data breaches that force businesses to suffer financial and reputational harm. Human errors can be minimised, though. Organizations may strengthen their security posture and fend off rising cyber risks and threats by putting safe cybersecurity practises into practise and implementing cybersecurity services awareness training programmes.
