Why Your People Are Your Biggest Cybersecurity Threat

Why Your People Are Your Biggest Cybersecurity Threat

From sophisticated phishing emails to incredibly accurate Ai-based vishing scams, many of the ways that cybercriminals try to breach your systems are targeted at a single vulnerability in your protection: the people who work for you. 

In this guide, we explore why your people are a vital component in cybersecurity risk management and what you can do to manage that risk to keep your organisation safe.

What is the Human Factor in Cybersecurity?

The ‘human factor’ is a term used by cybersecurity specialists to define the biggest risk your business faces from modern cybersecurity attacks . Up to 95% of cyberattacks succeed because of human error, giving attackers an easy way in. 

Both active errors, such as clicking an email link, and passive errors like failing to use a secure password can have devastating consequences for your business. Once a cybercriminal is able to access your systems, they can install ransomware, steal company information, or reach financial data about your employees or customers.

By reducing the risk of human error with your cybersecurity practices, you can make successful attacks far less likely.

What Makes People a Cybersecurity Risk?

There is a range of different factors that make your people a cybersecurity risk for your business. These include the following:

Social Engineering and Manipulation

Unlike a network, application or system, people can be directly socially engineered and manipulated to do specific actions that put your business at risk. While a program won’t go against its coding, your employees may respond in a range of ways to phishing, vishing and smishing attempts – including providing cybercriminals with ways to infiltrate data or systems.

Poor Digital Hygiene

Digital hygiene is the process your employees should be following to protect themselves and your business. Examples of poor digital hygiene include not updating browsers and applications promptly, using insecure passwords and using the same device for work and personal use. Accessing work data and systems through public Wi-Fi can also be an example of poor digital hygiene that could be a risk to your organisation.

Unintentional Errors

Unintentional errors occur when an employee does something by accident that threatens the cybersecurity of your business. This could include anything from mistakenly clicking a link in an email or downloading an infected file to accidentally sending sensitive company information or customer data to the wrong person.

Individual Complacency

Complacency can easily lead to significant risk for your business. Employees may cut corners for convenience, such as leaving laptops unlocked, staying logged into restricted software or reusing passwords, because nothing has gone wrong yet. This provides an easy open door for cybercriminals to gain access to your network with hardly any work required.

Employee Negligence

Failing to comply with your company’s cybersecurity policies is a type of negligence that can cause serious issues for your organisation. For example, employees refusing to update their operating system or patch applications can open your business to potential risk. Not checking if an email is genuine is also a kind of negligence that can allow cybercriminals to infiltrate your systems.

Malicious Insiders

Malicious insider security threats are caused by employees who deliberately breach your internal systems, either for their personal gain or as the result of a bribe or coercion from a cybercriminal. According to a recent risk report, in 2025 up to 27% of all insider incidents were malicious. Insiders have freer access to your systems and often understand how your business functions, which means they can cause significant damage.

How to Prevent the Human Factor as a Cybersecurity Risk

There's no solution that will 100% protect your business from human error. However, there are steps you can take to significantly reduce the risk of a successful attack:

Implement Zero Trust Policies

Zero trust policies protect your business by strengthening access controls and ensuring access is verified in every instance. Least-privilege access is a key part of this method, where employees have access to the resources they need to do their jobs and no more. This prevents cybercriminals from gaining entry to secure systems and data and improves insider threat prevention.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication requires all employees to take multiple steps to sign into applications and operating systems. These factors could include a physical security token, biometrics or verification via a secondary device such as a smartphone. MFA protects your business by preserving security even if an employee’s password is exposed.

Create a Security-First Culture

Creating a positive cybersecurity culture in your business is a vital component to reducing your risk. If employees feel comfortable with your policies and processes for reporting and drawing attention to cyberattacks and breaches, they are far more likely to speak up when something seems wrong. Setting a standard where employees feel able to question contact from senior management can also help promote a security-first culture.

Provide Comprehensive and Continuous Training

Improving employee security awareness with engaging, consistent training is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal to reduce the risk of human error-related cyberattacks. A report by the UK Government in 2025 found that fewer than 20% of businesses provided cybersecurity training in the previous 12 months. That’s plenty of time for your staff to forget their safety principles and not have up-to-date training on continually evolving cybersecurity threats.

Supplement Education with Real-World Tests

Providing testing and simulations is an ideal way to increase employee confidence and improve their ability to spot and respond to real threats. Fake phishing emails are a typical tool used by cybersecurity companies to determine whether employees have applied their training to their everyday work. These simulated attacks can provide insight into who needs additional training and whether your training process is effective.

Reduce Your Risk with Flotek

Flotek supports businesses across the UK to improve their cybersecurity and reduce the ‘human factor’ risk. Our cybersecurity services cover monitoring and threat detection, Cyber Essentials certification and engaging online training that builds real employee knowledge.

Our dedicated cyber team has extensive experience in reducing risks from cyberattacks. Call us on 02921 50 8000 or fill out our contact form to speak with our cyber specialists.

Further Reading

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– Introducing FloCX Analytics – full breakdown
– FloCX Analytics now integrates with 350+ CRMs
– Flo Analytics for Microsoft Teams

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