• Your employees are often the weakest link when it comes to enterprise cybersecurity.
• Your IT Department, Finance and C-Suite are particularly risky when it comes to cyberattacks.
• Harvard Business Review identifies 4 areas to mitigate the risk of cyberthreats through human error.
Cybersecurity has now expanded far beyond external threats of hackers attacking network vulnerabilities. Your employees are often the weakest link when it comes to enterprise cybersecurity. Insider threats are much more complex and difficult to manage. The nature of insider threats can be categorized into malicious, accidental, or negligent.
Some departments are more likely to fall victim to cyberattacks:
- IT and development: These employees have system access and passwords to sensitive company files.
- Finance: Attacks target these employees to transfer large sums of money, bypassing normal accounts payable procedures and controls.
- The C-Suite: Executives often work long hours, are rarely confined to the office, and have unrestricted access to the most sensitive company data, making them highly valuable and highly available targets.
Harvard Business Review wrote an excellent article about the problem of employees exposing your organization to cyberthreats through human error. They identified four areas where you can significantly mitigate this risk:
- Rethink employee training: In order to make a meaningful and lasting impact on employee behavior, organizations should organize frequent and interactive training sessions.
- Identify high-risk users and intervene: Another technique is to send out mock-phishing emails to see who clicks. Predictive analytics and artificial intelligence can also monitor and influence risky behavior.
- Shape the solution to the human user and not vice versa: Secure systems such as encrypted email can be complex and cumbersome to use. Companies should engage with employees to find a viable and workable solution to support cybersecurity efforts
- Constantly adapt to changing threats: Rapid advancements in technology makes it easier to secure data and to apply advanced analytics.
The Harvard Business Review article ends with: “It’s true that to err is human, and humans will keep erring. But increasingly, technology and improved practices can help you identify those employees who are most at risk of exposing your company to a cyberattack — before it becomes a major problem.”
Abilita and our cybersecurity business partners can help protect your company against cyber attacks. If you are ready to explore some of the strategies outlined in this report, contact your Abilita consultant today!