Cybersecurity is still a hot buzzword phrase for businesses and organizations. But the components of cybersecurity strategy and what makes an effective approach to creating a safe, secure cyber ecosystem are rising in popularity.
One of the most overlooked components of cybersecurity strategies is the most crucial: human risk management.
Human risk management is the process of identifying, analyzing, and addressing the risks associated with human behavior as it relates to an organization’s processes and procedures. Evaluating the risks employees pose to themselves, vendors, partners, customers, and beyond is the most vital piece of the human risk assessment puzzle.
So what human behaviors pose the most risk to an organization’s cybersecurity?
- Social engineering: cybercriminals manipulate individuals into releasing or revealing sensitive information by performing security-compromising actions. Social engineering can include any or all of the following threat types: phishing, pretexting (smishing), vishing, and other exploitative tactics designed to prey on human psychology, nature, and trust.
- Insider threats: Anyone with access to sensitive, private, privileged information or data is a threat. Whether they act with malicious intent or unwittingly allow the assets they have access to become compromised, every individual with access to sensitive material poses a risk. Organizations must mitigate this human risk that can take the form of data theft, system misuse, or other compromising behavior.
- Human error: Clicking on a malicious link, leaving a device unattended, failing to keep software updated, downloading ransomware hidden within a file or document. All of these would be classified as unintentional human error and pose a great risk to every organization.
So how do you manage human risk when it comes to cybersecurity? A comprehensive, holistic approach must be taken. Some of the necessary pieces of a solid human risk management strategy include the following steps:
- Identify the human risks present within your organization. Once you know where the gaps are and which employees are most likely to fall victim, you can start corrective action. Think of human risk management as a combination of assessment and audit. By conducting a thorough human risk assessment focusing on the types of risks posed by employees, and sometimes external partners or vendors, you’ll be more prepared to adopt the correct policies and procedures necessary to mitigate human risk gaps.
- Create a corrective action plan. With your list of identified human risks in hand, it’s time to develop policies and procedures to address these risks. Steps typically include implementing cybersecurity awareness training programs, enforcing access controls, and distributing a thorough incident response plan.
- Install security controls. Mitigation controls take the human element out of the equation. By eliminating human risk, instead of simply masking it, you drive out the root problem. While eradicating human risk is impossible, steps and controls can be taken to reach a zero-trust mindset. Adding MFA (multi-factor authentication) where possible, restricting and monitoring access to sensitive data, and implementing data-loss prevention systems are all available and widely used options.
- Review results. Human risk management is an ongoing process. Like any procedural change, it requires constant monitoring and analysis. Be sure to regularly review policies, procedures, and security controls put in place to ensure they are not only effective but efficient and kept up-to-date with current cybersecurity standards.
- Lastly, adopt a mindset of continuous improvement. Human risk management requires learning from past breaches and technical incidents, updating policies to reflect the latest best practices, and investing in new technology and systems to further mitigate and eliminate human risk.
The rise of human risk management as a crucial component of cybersecurity defense strategy is experiencing an exponential increase. Identifying, assessing, and mitigating the risks associated with human behavior must occur in order to limit exposure to cyberattacks created by human error. By formulating a comprehensive plan to solve the problem, an organization can definitively produce positive results. As the threat landscape evolves, human risk management will become even more vital to maintaining effective cybersecurity.
