When we look at human error in the IT space, we find that often enough it is unintended, uneducated, or lack of action on the part of a company’s employees. This can be anything from not understanding the importance of a strong password to clicking on a malicious link on a website that is questionable. Also, with the advent of work from home and the ever-increasing complexity of cyber-attacks, it is even more important to continue to educate yourself and your end-users on the importance of security.

Work From Home

While work from home is a wonderful trend, it transitions more of the onus of computer maintenance onto the end-user. Making sure updates are applied and that you are securely connected is even more crucial in today’s current environment. In that vein, users must understand the tools available to them, such as VPN and secure file-sharing services, to best mitigate risk. 

Phishing and Malware

Phishing and Malware are always front and center, so training users on how to spot phishing attacks and how to avoid malicious sites has never been more important. End-users should be aware that they are always a target and be wary of anything they get that is even slightly suspicious. Phishing often plays off human emotion so the best way to protect yourself is with knowledge.

Just the Numbers

IBM Cyber Security reports that human error is a major contributing factor in a whopping 95% of data breaches. What this means is that if human error was factored out, the chances are that 19 out of 20 breaches analyzed in their study would not have happened at all.

Another study by Cisco suggests that phishing accounts for around 90% of data breaches, with 96% of those phishing attacks coming through email. At least one person has clicked a phishing link in around 86% of organizations. Symantec research suggests that throughout 2020, 1 in 4,200 emails was a phishing email.

In Conclusion

These statistics all highlight how important end-user training becomes to a business. Mitigating human error and providing training to your users provides the most bang for your cybersecurity buck and allows you to rest easier, knowing your employees are protected with a shield of knowledge.

With programs such as NET X Phishing and NET X EPDR, among others, you can assure your end-users are educated and protected. Get a leg up on cybercriminals, give us a call today at 412.244.NETX (6389).