Bytes Cyber Journal: Entry 4 - The User: The Good, The Bad & The Careless
Friday 24th May 2024
The User: The Good, The Bad & The Careless
User awareness, malicious insiders, & access privilege.
In the intricate web of digital systems, the user plays a multifaceted role. From the conscientious collaborator to the unwitting accomplice, the user’s actions reverberate across the infrastructure. In this exploration, we delve into three critical facets of the user experience: awareness, malicious insiders, and the delicate balance of access and privilege.
The Challenge
The human element remains both an asset and a liability within cybersecurity frameworks. User awareness is the frontline of defence against cyber threats, yet it is often the weakest link. A lack of robust security education leaves individuals vulnerable to manipulation, leading to inadvertent breaches. It is often difficult to generate user engagement during educational exercises or talks held within a business. So, the question remains: how can we as a business create a new learning methodology which truly makes business users more “security savvy”?
Conversely, malicious insiders represent a more sinister challenge. These are trusted entities within an organization who abuse their access privileges to inflict harm or conduct espionage. Their intimate knowledge of the company’s systems makes them particularly dangerous adversaries. The management of access privileges is a delicate balance between enabling productivity and safeguarding assets. Too often, excessive permissions go unchecked, laying out a welcome mat for potential breaches. Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach, blending vigilant education, stringent access controls, and a culture of security-first thinking.
What To Do Next
The user’s ‘identity’ should be deemed the new security perimeter – never trust and always verify. Awareness training should be the first step to reducing the threat of a breach. The importance of educating users on security best practices and the risk of careless behaviour remains the priority. As forementioned, a new and more engaging educational system must be put in place, not only to ensure business users are engaged but also to allow for security teams to have an audit trail to track a user’s performance against day-to-day threats. We have seen a rise in these educational tools implemented across businesses of all sizes and the results have generated a universal seal of approval.
The research showed that after continuous phishing testing and awareness training, our users had a 60% reduction in mistakes made during simulated phishing attacks. During the first test, an average of 15% of recipients submitted the personal information requested by the “cybercriminal.”
The 60% reduction in mistakes suggests the users of the awareness training platform became more cautious, better at identifying suspicious mail and less likely to input personal data into phishing websites. The benefits of the training showcase improved security and ongoing vigilance for the business at the frontline.
The theme emerging is business users are the first and worst line of defence for a business’s cyber security strategy. Whether through lack of awareness or indeed their intentional or unintentional abuse of entitlements. Addressing awareness to threats, 91% of which come into their inbox, the next step is to create a robust access process. There are two main forms the latter can be delivered. The first, an automated joiners, movers and leavers (JML) process through Identity Governance tools. This allows security teams to metaphorically “put blinkers on their users” to ensure they are only able to see and access their entitled applications. The second step to enhance this ‘least privilege’ is to adopt a Privilege Access Management (PAM) tool to control administrators as well as business users through device agents to halt lateral movement should a user’s credentials become compromised. The two in conjunction create a defined access policy underpinned by machine isolation.
How Bytes Can Help
There is an abundance of technology vendors that claim to be the perfect fit for any organisation. Here at Bytes, my team and I pride ourselves on understanding the nuance differences between each vendor to ensure the right technology choice is made on a case-by-case basis. There are many intricacies of Identity, Endpoint, and Email and a suited security partner is paramount. Bytes offers comprehensive Market Overviews that delve into these critical areas, providing businesses with the insights needed to navigate the complexities of their offerings against your own use cases. Our recommendation and comparison reports serve as invaluable resources for companies seeking to build their business case and show due diligence was completed. We invite you to take action and join one of our interactive sessions. Here, you will gain first-hand knowledge from industry leaders and discover tailored solutions that can fortify your organization’s security posture. This is your chance opportunity to have an agnostic yet opinionated conversation.
If you have any questions, or would like to learn about any of the content covered in this blog, please email our friendly team via [email protected]
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