March 2, 2023

Why People Are the Weakest Link in the Cybersecurity Chain

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The lack of cybersecurity awareness and poor security practices are the primary reason why cybercriminals see us as easy targets.

While reading about the rise of cybersecurity risks, we often imagine a team of terrible hackers hidden in some dark basement waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike innocent internet users and rob them of their money. However, the reality is not as simple.

If we search for the weakest link in cybersecurity, we wouldn’t need to look further than ourselves. Whether it’s a private or professional domain, our security systems are less likely to fail us than people.

What Are Some of the Most Common Cybersecurity Risks Caused by People?

Technology exists to make life easier. It can make everyday tasks more efficient while saving us time, effort, and energy. Whether we’re using it for personal or professional reasons, we play the primary role in creating new technologies and making them part of our society.

For the most part, technology is predictable, while people are prone to chaos. It’s no surprise we’re considered to be the biggest threat to any cybersecurity system.

Here are the most common cybersecurity risks triggered by our lack of security awareness and poor practices—you might even be making some of these security mistakes at this moment…

Poor Password Practices

Instead of creating a unique password for every online service we use, most people try to save some time by setting up the same password across all their accounts. So, even if they’re using a strong password, if cybercriminals manage to crack it, they’ll also gain access to all their accounts.

If a professional account gets cracked, all of a company’s sensitive data would end up in hands of cybercriminals and the damage done to the business’s reputation could be disastrous.

To avoid this scenario, don’t use the same password or a passphrase for multiple accounts, and make sure all your passwords are strong. You could use online tools that check your password strength to make sure you’re on the safe side.

Avoiding Authentication

The reasons behind avoiding Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) are similar to reasons behind poor password practices—people seem to think they’re a waste of time and slows down their workflow. The sooner they can access their resources, the sooner their job will be done; MFA feels like an unnecessary barrier.

We should also note that although people who utilize MFA are much less likely to get hacked, the authentication itself doesn’t make them immune to broken authentication vulnerabilities such as session hijacking, password spraying, and phishing attacks.

Security Misconfiguration

Even a company’s own cybersecurity staff and system administrators aren’t safe from human error. For instance, failing to upgrade security software or forgetting to change default passwords on the company’s servers increases the chance that cybercriminals will find a way to crack the system.

And then there’s insufficient remote access control, inadequate hardware management, disabled antivirus protection, unprotected files, coding errors; and the list goes on…

Such errors create serious security gaps which make all apps, data, and the company itself an easy target for cyberattacks and data breaches.

Using Unsecured Networks

Using unknown networks is a risky venture, but if you’re doing so with company devices, it can leave an entire organization exposed to cyber threats. If an unknown network is provided at public places—such as coffee shops, bus stations, and airports—the risks rise.

Public networks can be infested with viruses and malware, and these can get into your device as you’re trying to log into your email account or social media sites. If a hacker finds a way to place themselves between you and the connection point, i.e. a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack, they’ll get access to your logins and all other information you’re sending and recieving online. Once they do that, they’ll be able to get into your systems as if they were you.

Physical Security Errors

Although many common causes of data breaches can be attributed to cyberattacks, companies can also be at risk of physical security threats. For instance, if an unauthorized person gets into the company’s premises, they could steal confidential information, user credentials, or other sensitive data.

While these types of security errors come in many shapes and sizes, the most common include leaving sensitive documents unattended, leaving doors unlocked, and letting strangers into secure premises or giving them access to company computers.

How Do Cybercriminals Use Human Error Against You?

Since cybercriminals recognize the human factor as an easy target, they try to exploit it as much as they can. Notably, this could be through identity theft, in which a cybercriminal steals your personal information to commit fraud. They can use it to get your money, apply for credit, or get medical services. In any case, ID theft can empty your bank account and ruin your reputation at the same time.

Similarly, attackers can leverage human error to carry out ransomware attacks, which can cause damage to an individual or a company in a number of ways. But it always comes down to locking you out of your device or sensitive data and demanding a ransom for a decryption key. Other types of malware also steal your data, take control of your devices, or start ‘mining’ cryptocurrency.

That’s not all. There are many ways hackers can use simple human error against you.

• Intellectual Property (IP) theft: It’s as simple as copying someone else’s idea, product, or service without doing that work yourself. It’s popular because it’s easy and can be extremely profitable. Both individuals and companies can become victims of IP theft.
• Corporate espionage: So-called industrial or corporate espionage is the same as political espionage, but is done for commercial purposes, rather than national security. In this type of cybercrime, criminals don’t target individuals unless they’re part of competing companies. After all, the primary purpose is to come by trade secrets and gain an advantage over the competition.
• Ruining reputations: Whether a public persona or a company, the primary casualty of a successful cyberattack is often trust. While this can be intentional or collateral damage (of financial gain, for instance) it can leave a lasting mark on one’s reputation.

Why Are People an Easy Target for Cybercriminals?

Apart from the lack of cybersecurity awareness, there are several primary reasons why cybercriminals find people to be easy targets.

Unlike technology, people are trusting by nature. Also, sometimes they’re under stress and social engineering attacks can catch them off guard and make them fall for the scam. If they’re also uninformed (or even irresponsible) about cybersecurity, this makes them the perfect prey.

Humans are creatures of routine and most of us don’t mind it. Unfortunately, this can make us an easy target for hacking such as phishing attacks. For instance, if you check your email as soon as you get up in the morning, cybercriminals could send a phishing email at that time. Then, without giving it a second thought, you could open the message, click on the link, and have your personal information stolen.

Ultimately, we can be emotional, which can cloud our judgment and make us easily affected by social engineering attacks. Just one wrong step made by us or any other employee can put the whole company and its users at risk.

Can We Overcome Human Error Risks?

Since the most serious cybersecurity threat is not a sophisticated hack but good old-fashioned human factor, we should eliminate it, right? That’s easier said than done. However, we can find ways to fight cybercrime by overcoming this factor without eliminating humans from the equation. Mistakes are bound to happen. But we can spread cybersecurity awareness and make sure we, and the people we depend on, are informed about cybersecurity risks.

We could also use strong security tools, seek help from cybersecurity experts, and create a culture where people feel free to share any issues or concerns they have about cybersecurity.

Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/people-weakest-link-in-cybersecurity/

Ref: makeuseof

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