Why is the human aspect important for cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is a constantly evolving field, and its prominence has grown with the increasing wave of companies embracing digitization, as well as society in general. However, even with all the advanced technology available, the majority of successful attacks and threats occur due to the human factor.

According to the Gartner report "Predicts 2023: Cybersecurity Industry Focuses on the Human Deal," by 2025, lack of training, negligence, or human error will cause over 50% of cyber incidents.

However, the same report states that at least half of the companies will adopt formal cybersecurity management programs due to internally-driven incidents. Discover how human factors directly impact cybersecurity and how to prevent a lack of cybersecurity awareness from affecting your organization.?

5 Human Factors That Affect Cybersecurity

Human factors significantly impact cybersecurity. This is because without awareness and training for employees, suppliers, and third-party partners, the damages to an organization can be immeasurable. Therefore, the 5 main human factors that affect a company's cybersecurity are:

• Employee Behavior
• Leadership's Lack of Engagement with Secure Practices
• Lack of Incident Response Preparedness
• Internal Threats
• Third-Party Risk

Employee Behavior:

Employee behavior can significantly impact an organization's cybersecurity. Lack of training or carelessness can lead to serious security breaches, such as falling for phishing emails, using weak passwords, neglecting software updates, among others. To combat this problem, it's important to implement cybersecurity awareness programs for employees and adopt policies that reinforce security practices.

Leadership's Lack of Engagement with Secure Practices:

Leadership plays a crucial role in an organization. If they are not engaged in secure practices, employees may follow suit and be equally negligent. It is crucial for leaders and managers to be committed to cybersecurity practices and demonstrate this commitment to the team by investing in employee awareness and training, as well as implementing appropriate measures to prevent and mitigate threats to the company's digital assets.

Lack of Incident Response Preparedness:

A quick and effective response to cyber incidents can minimize the impact of a security breach. However, many organizations are still unprepared to handle such situations. Therefore, it is essential for companies to have well-defined Incident Response Plans (IRPs) and regularly test them to ensure that the team is prepared to deal with cyber threats. Additionally, providing means for employees to report incidents is also important.

Internal Threats:

Internal threats pose one of the biggest cybersecurity risks? for organizations. Malicious or careless employees can access confidential information or damage systems. To mitigate this risk, organizations should implement security measures, such as Privileged Access Management (PAM), that limit access to confidential information and monitor employee behavior.

Third-Party Risk:

Companies often work with suppliers and business partners, which can increase third-party risks to cybersecurity. They may introduce vulnerabilities that cybercriminals attempt to exploit in order to access the organization's information. To minimize this risk, companies should implement security controls in contracts with suppliers and partners, as well as conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with security policies.