Human Risk Management in cybersecurity is a comprehensive approach that goes far beyond basic security awareness training. It involves understanding and managing the human factors that can impact security. This includes behavior, culture, and the individual decision-making processes within an organization.

Key Components of Human Risk Management

1. Behavioral Analysis: Understanding how employees interact with IT systems and identifying risky behaviors. But, the understanding comes from actual security data continuously aggravated in real-time and mapped to individual employees through AD, 7/24/365.
2. Customized Training: Tailoring training to address specific risky behaviors and vulnerabilities at an individual employee level and/or within different groups or departments.
3. Cultural Change: The result of continuous management is the growth of a security-conscious culture throughout the organization, where security is accepted as everyone’s responsibility.
4. Continuous Monitoring and Feedback: Regularly assessing employee behavior and providing constructive feedback, nudges and assessments rather than the occasional all-hands training sessions.
5. Incident Simulation and Response Training: Preparing employees for real-world scenarios through simulations like phishing tests.

Why Human Risk Management is More Effective than Security Awareness Training

1. Tailored Approach: Traditional security awareness training often adopts a one-size-fits-all model, which is far less effective. If an employee doesn’t see something that interests him or her in traditional all-hands training, they check out. Human Risk Management focuses on the specific needs and vulnerabilities of individuals, teams and departments, providing a targeted approach.
2. Behavioral Focus: It concentrates on changing behaviors, not just imparting knowledge. Understanding why employees might engage in risky behaviors allows for more effective mitigation strategies.
3. Cultural Integration: It embeds security into the corporate culture, making it a part of everyday operations rather than a standalone concept.
4. Proactive Rather Than Reactive: This approach is proactive, identifying and addressing risks before they become security incidents.

Better Return on Investment (ROI)                                      

1. Reduced Incident Rates: By focusing on behavior and culture, Human Risk Management can significantly reduce the incidence of security breaches.
2. Cost Efficiency: Human Risk Management costs less than traditional security awareness training program combined with conventional coursework used for cybersecurity training on markets today. And it accelerates the ROI on the security tools and products already paid for, by extracting additional value from their aggregation.
3. Enhanced Employee Engagement: Engaged employees are more likely to take security seriously, leading to a stronger overall security posture.
4. Adaptability: This approach can adapt to the evolving threat landscape and changes within the organization, providing long-term value.

In summary, Human Risk Management offers a more holistic, effective, enjoyable and sustainable approach to cybersecurity compared to traditional security awareness training.

By focusing on the human element, which is often the riskiest link in security, it provides a stronger defense against cyber threats. In our current era, with GenAI vastly improving the quality and quantity of phishing, vishing and social engineering attempts, not having a real-time data-driven system in place is the equivalent of surrendering to a better weaponized combatant.

We cannot do that and expect to survive.