There are some things in life you can predict as a fact. The sky will be blue, and clouds will be white, but when it comes to cyber security incidents, human error seems to be something that can’t be predicted.
While the majority of organisations have implemented highly technical solutions to protect their organisation from the cyber world, a significant number of security incidents occur due to human error. To prevent and further reduce these incidents, organisations must understand the six ways people cause security incidents.
1. Unintentional Mistakes
Safety incidents due to unintentional mistakes are the most common reason for cybersecurity errors. These can be as simple as accidentally deleting a file from a shared drive or even pressing the wrong buttons on a keyboard.
The scary thing is that these incidents can often have a considerable impact on your organisation, financially and in terms of your reputation.
2. Purposeful Acts of Malice
Some people in your organisation clearly don’t want to follow security practices. They knowingly do things like click on phishing links, use weak passwords, and create malware.
Even when catching and firing these people, they may still have enough access to do real damage to the organisation. They could download sensitive data before carrying out their termination.
3. Out of Control EDA Software
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) software is very powerful, but most organisations do not have a good idea of implementing it properly. Using it effectively can detect malware quickly and prevent it from spreading throughout your organisation.
Unfortunately, this software is often left on and, even worse, left to run automatically due to poor deployment. It could lead your software to scan your entire organisation all the time, causing a slow-down in productivity.
4. Copy and Paste
It is a common misconception that copy and pasting information is safe. The truth is that by copying and pasting text or other files, you are transferring original data and embedding the file in the pasted content. This is especially risky when it comes to text and executable files.
5. Unprotected Devices
Mobile devices, especially from non-enterprise companies, present a huge security risk to your organisation. They are usually shipped with the most up-to-date operating systems and are often connected to the internet right away. All this adds up to your organisation being at risk.
6. Social Engineering
Social engineering is a form of cyberattack that targets users and employees of your organisation intending to take advantage of them. People often fall for social engineering techniques because they are often executed by known people they trust.
The attack on the popular television show Mr. Robot, which features an NSA employee who is a mole for a group called “fsociety”, is a perfect example of how social engineering can exploit users.
A More Solid Protection
It’s no secret—human error is the cause of cybersecurity incidents more often than malicious action. The sad part is that so many professionals forget this simple fact. Most of us could reflect on times when we did something foolish or careless that could have easily caused an incident. This article listed some of the common human error mistakes that compromise cybersecurity which you can use to help you better protect your business.
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