Mitigating Errors: Human Factor in Cyber Security

For such a long time, human error in cyber security has been an issue of concern for many businesses and corporations. Despite the enormous amount of money that businesses invest in enhancing their cyber-security systems, many systems have still been infiltrated by hackers because of human errors. Recent research conducted by Kaspersky Labs revealed that human errors account for more than 52 per cent of security and data breaches.

The research also identified spear phishing as the most common technique employed by hackers. It is effortless for hackers to lure individuals using this technique since it mainly relies on emotional manipulation. Some of the most notable security and data breaches resulting from human errors in the past four years include major hacks against the healthcare industry in the US and Snapchat.

Social engineering threats find a way around security systems by taking advantage of human errors. Many hackers employ the use of psychological manipulation to make users provide confidential information or perform certain actions. Email attacks such as phishing often rely on the user clicking on embedded links which can either lead to the user downloading malware such as ransomware or pushing users to provide confidential information.

Though email attacks are growing extremely popular among hackers, text/SMS scams are also increasing in popularity as well. People are usually more than willing to click on links from their mobile phones, thereby making SMiShing scams another widely used technique. For many businesses, it is imperative to prevent human errors as it is to invest heavily in state-of-the-art cyber security systems.

Following are some techniques that you can employ as a business owner/manager to minimise human errors:

1.Educating Employees

One of the most crucial steps that you can take is to educate your employees on how to recognise phishing emails. You can begin by educating your staff on how to focus on critical details that will help identify if an email or document is real. Focusing on critical details entails inspecting the signature at the bottom of mail and then seeing whether the replier’s address corresponds with the sender’s address.

On top of that, you should also train them on how not to fall for panic-inducing wordings. Using of panic words is a conventional technique employed by hackers when trying to manipulate their targets emotionally. Finally, you should always ask your employees to stay alert at all times.

2. Enhancing Authentication

Humans, in general, will always opt for the most straightforward option. When it comes to cyber security, this trend can be quite costly. Using passwords that consist of easily searchable wordings makes it quite easy for hackers to crack the passwords and eventually infiltrate the system. Many at times, hackers use social engineering to collect all the relevant information. This is why businesses should encourage their employees to use 2-factor authentication.

3.Ethical Hacking

Another great technique that you can employ to identify the flaws in your cyber security system is ethical hacking. Ethical hacking is a great way of testing your employees’ prudence and cyber security awareness. Ethical hackers are security experts who will examine security systems to find out bugs and then recommend solutions to fix them.

4. Cyber Security Plan

It’s essential for businesses to create a plan which can be accessed easily. As a guide to employees, the security plan must be regularly updated, and the information included should be easy to digest. Therefore, don’t forget to package the plan in such a way that individuals with little or no knowledge in IT will be able to understand.

At getNEXT we are committed to helping our customers safeguard their IT integrity and ensure their business continuity, focusing on business outcomes, not technology solutions alone. Get in touch today to see how we can help your business.