Security is a vital aspect of any organization. However, many organizations struggle to achieve a high level of security due to various challenges and threats. Human error stands out as the biggest obstacle to a successful security posture.
Human error can occur at any stage of the security process, from planning and design to implementation and maintenance to monitoring and response. Many factors can cause human error, such as poor design, distraction, time pressure, workload stress, incompetence, poor morale, faulty communication, and lack of training.
Examples of human error in cybersecurity:
- Using weak or default passwords or reusing the same password across multiple accounts or devices
- Clicking on malicious links or attachments in phishing emails or messages
- Downloading or installing unauthorized or unverified software or applications
- Sharing sensitive or confidential information with unauthorized parties or through insecure channels
- Failing to update or patch software or systems regularly
- Not backing up or encrypting data properly
- Neglecting to follow security policies, procedures, or best practices
Organizations can implement best practices to minimize human error
There is no way to eliminate human error, but there are steps organizations can take to minimize it and mitigate its impact, such as:
- Educate and train employees on security awareness and best practices. This should include password management, phishing prevention, data protection, and incident response. Employees should also be tested and evaluated regularly on their security knowledge and behavior.
- Implement and enforce clear, consistent, and comprehensive security policies and procedures. These should cover access control, authentication, authorization, encryption, backup, patching, logging, auditing, and reporting. Employees should also be responsible for their actions and compliance with the policies and procedures.
- Use technology and tools to automate or simplify security tasks and processes. These include password managers, antivirus software, firewalls, automated penetration testing, encryption, backup, etc.
- Monitor and review security performance and incidents regularly. This can help identify and address gaps or weaknesses in the security system or process. It can also help measure and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the security strategy and operations.
RidgeBot continuous threat exposure management solution helps eliminate human error
One of the most critical security protections is continuous security validation testing, which simulates real-world attacks on a system or network to identify, confirm, and help mitigate vulnerabilities. Continuous security validation testing helps organizations assess their security posture, validate security controls, comply with regulations, and prevent breaches.
However, traditional methods with manual penetration testing are often manual, time-consuming, expensive, and prone to human error. Many organizations have limited resources, internal skills, or tools to conduct comprehensive tests. Additionally, manual penetration testing may be unable to keep up with the dynamic changes in the IT environment, such as new applications and systems.
RidgeBot overcomes these challenges using a fully AI-powered security validation system. It is modeled with a collective knowledge of threats, vulnerabilities, exploits, adversary tactics, and techniques. RidgeBot acts like an actual attacker, relentlessly locating, exploiting, and documenting its findings. RidgeBot’s AI-driven, automated security validation makes it affordable and able to run at scale.
Key features and benefits of RidgeBot
- Detects weak passwords by using brute force attacks based on a pre-defined library and audits weak or reused Windows domain passwords.
- Visualizes the attack topology and path for each target system, showing each step of an attack and providing attack forensics, vulnerability fixes, and risk mitigation recommendations.
- Discovers the attack surface for the targets and identifies its attack mechanism details in various categories, such as URLs, ports, emails, back-end login entries, file upload entries, neighboring domains, and front-end entries.
- Shows the details of each vulnerability, including vulnerability type, severity rank, CVSS score/vector, description, fix solution, and reference information. It also provides details such as payload, attack snapshot, etc.
- Defines risk as an exploit that accomplishes the whole kill chain. It supports four types of risks: remote command execution, credential disclosure, sensitive information exposure, and database manipulation. It also provides evidence for each risk, such as shell type/path, user, OS, database library table, etc.
Human error is a significant security challenge for any organization. It can expose them to risks and threats that compromise their data, systems, reputation, and operations. RidgeBot is a critical technology that helps organizations lessen the incidence and impact of human error to strengthen their security and prevent damaging breaches. Learn more…