Recent trends indicate that internal threats account for a significant portion of cyber incidents, making it imperative for organizations to broaden their security focus beyond external threats alone. As human cyber risk becomes an increasingly pressing issue, cyber insurance professionals must keep up-to-date on top mitigation techniques.
What is Human Cyber Risk?
When discussing cyber vulnerabilities, we often overlook an essential component: the human attack surface. Traditionally, an attack surface refers to the totality of vulnerabilities within a network’s hardware and software infrastructure. However, the human element introduces a nuanced layer of risk that cannot be ignored.
Employees, with their behaviors and activities, significantly contribute to an organization’s attack surface. In today’s dynamic work landscape, each interaction, whether it’s clicking on a suspicious link or inadvertently sharing sensitive information, presents an opportunity for cyber-criminals to exploit vulnerabilities and compromise security.
Mitigating Human Cyber Risk
In order to mitigate the threat of the human attack surface, organizations must prioritize education and training initiatives that enhance employee awareness of social engineering tactics and cyber risks. By understanding the nuances of internal threats and the human attack surface, organizations can bolster their defenses and reduce the potential impact of cyber attacks.
To gain further insights into the tactics used by cyber-criminals and to learn how to protect your insured’s organizations from internal vulnerabilities, learn more with our Cyber Insurance Certification Course on Social Engineering.
