Page 20 - Cyber Warnings

Combating Human Error on an Organizational Level

The transition to an economy more reliant upon services and technology means that more
private information and business data will be available for hackers to steal, requiring a deeper
commitment to cybersecurity from all interested parties. There are billions to trillions of dollars of
property at stake overall. This creates a natural incentive for hackers and cybercriminal activity
that target corporations and business leaders.

Unfortunately, many decision makers are given to thinking that the latest and greatest firewalls
and security tools are all that are needed in order to protect these vital assets. They spend
thousands on some programs, tell their IT departments to do what’s best, and go about their
business. This is the kind of thinking that leads to the economic and reputational ruin of a data
breach.

The best tools are indeed absolutely necessary, but they need to be used in conjunction with a
cybersecurity strategy that is as thorough as it is adaptive in combating the dangers of human
error. A company’s cybersecurity infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest link, and most of
the time, it is employees who work with data and still do things such as use “password” as a
verification measure. It could be the subject of humor if it weren’t real. Cybersecurity
professionals need to have a response to this problem.

Here are the trends that every cybersecurity professional needs to know about:

Training Is Not Universal

Cybersecurity isn’t often taught in school, and with most societies the most that you can expect
is a couple of (poorly advertised) websites with tips and a government department woefully
underequipped to tackle the problems at hand. This leads to the law of the jungle being the law
of the online landscape. Training should never be assumed when managing new hires or
existing employees who will work with vital information.

20 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – March 2016 Edition
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