By Mallory Randall, Head of Marketing at Interlaced.io
It’s been said that “With great power, comes great responsibility.” And yes, you can thank Spiderman for that one. But this statement can also apply to cybersecurity.
Let’s face it, people make mistakes—it’s just part of being human. But in cybersecurity, even small mistakes can have massive consequences. In fact, human error in cybersecurity is responsible for 95% of cybersecurity breaches, according to IBM. That means nearly all cyber incidents could have been avoided if employees had made different choices.
Cybercriminals know this, which is why they often target people rather than systems. Phishing attacks, weak passwords, and misconfigurations are all examples of human-related vulnerabilities that leave businesses exposed. The good news? With the right strategy, training, and security controls, you can reduce the risk significantly.
The Role of Human Error in Cybersecurity Breaches
Every company has insider threats—whether they realize it or not. These threats fall into two categories:
- Accidental Insiders: Employees, contractors, or partners who unintentionally put company data at risk due to a lack of awareness, inattention, or simple mistakes.
- Malicious Insiders: Individuals with access to sensitive data who intentionally misuse it for personal gain or to harm the company.
The Impact of Accidental Insiders
Human error in cybersecurity is a primary driver of modern cyber threats. Rather than relying solely on sophisticated hacking techniques, attackers often exploit simple mistakes made by employees. The following statistics illustrate the real-world impact of these errors:
- According to CrowdStrike, cloud environment intrusions increased by 75% from 2023 to 2024.
- There was a 76% year-over-year increase in victims named on the dark web dedicated to leaking personal data
- Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) states that 74% of incidents include some human element, such as clicking on a phishing link.
Some real-world risks: A man-in-the-middle attack over public Wi-Fi, a social engineering scam, or misconfigurations in cloud environments all highlight how human error in cybersecurity is a dominant factor in security breaches.
The Most Common Human Errors in Cyber Attacks
1. Falling for Phishing Attacks
First off, what is phishing you ask? Phishing is a trick used by hackers to get you to give up your personal information through deceitful emails or messages. Employees may unknowingly click on a malicious link in their email or text messages, thinking it’s legitimate. Once they enter their credentials, hackers can gain direct access to company systems.
2. Weak Passwords and Poor Password Hygiene
Using ‘123456’ as a password? You’re not alone, but that’s a hacker’s dream. 45% of people reuse their email password across multiple accounts. If one gets breached, your other accounts could be next.
3. Sending Data to the Wrong Recipient
Ever sent an email to the wrong person? It happens more often than you’d think—misdelivery is a leading cause of corporate data leaks.
4. Failing to Update or Patch Software
Many breaches could have been prevented with timely security updates, as unpatched vulnerabilities remain a primary target for cybercriminals.
5. Using Unauthorized Apps and Devices
Employees using personal devices or unapproved third-party applications can bypass security measures, creating blind spots for IT teams.
6. Poor Physical Security
Leaving sensitive documents unattended, writing passwords on sticky notes, or letting strangers into secure areas can all lead to data exposure.
3 Steps to Reduce Human Error in Cybersecurity
1. Monitor User Behavior and Access Privileges
A key reason for insider threats is the lack of visibility into employee behavior. Tools help detect suspicious activities before they become breaches—without compromising employee privacy.
- UBA (User Behavior Analytics) uses AI and machine learning to monitor and analyze user activities, detecting anomalies and potential security threats. Rather than surveilling individuals, UBA focuses on patterns and deviations, helping organizations identify risky behaviors like unusual login locations, unauthorized access attempts, or excessive data downloads. Splunk is a good tool to consider.
- PAM (Privileged Access Management) enforces strict control over administrative and high-level user accounts by limiting access to only necessary systems and applications. By implementing a least-privilege approach, PAM minimizes security risks while ensuring that employees can perform their tasks without unnecessary restrictions or invasive monitoring. For this, check out ThreatLocker.
2. Implement Engaging Cybersecurity Training
Traditional security training—like long PowerPoint slides and outdated e-learning modules—doesn’t work. Instead, companies should:
- Make training interactive and ongoing, not a once-a-year checkbox exercise.
- Use practical scenarios like simulated phishing attacks to test employee awareness. Google has a great, free tool to test your knowledge around phishing.
- Foster a security-first culture where employees feel comfortable reporting mistakes. Consider adding cybersecurity as part of your employee onboarding efforts and invite employees to raise potential threats.
3. Protect Data at the Source & Plan for the Worst
Even with the best training, mistakes will still happen. That’s why companies must take a proactive approach:
- Encrypt sensitive data to protect it even if it falls into the wrong hands.
- Implement data loss prevention (DLP) solutions to monitor and prevent unauthorized sharing of sensitive files.
- Create a detailed incident response plan so your team can act quickly in case of a breach.
Additional Security Best Practices
In Interlaced’s 2025 Cyber Threats: Protecting Your Startup from Modern Risks webinar, the panelists emphasized the following best practices to minimize human error in cybersecurity and improve security posture:
- Establish security policies (such as having employees lock their screens when walking away) and share them with employees .
- Focus on regular updates and remote work protection. For example, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a secured internet connection that encrypts and transmits data while it travels from one place to another on the internet.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all accounts to prevent unauthorized access. Duo and Google Authenticator are two free tools that can easily be accessed by your employees.
- Implement Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions to simplify and secure access.
- Configure email security settings like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prevent phishing and spoofing attacks.
- Perform regular data backups and enforce secure device management policies.
The Bottom Line: Security Starts with People
Cybersecurity isn’t just about having the best firewalls or antivirus software—it’s about educating and empowering your people. The reality is that human error is unavoidable. But with the right tools, training, and culture, businesses can prevent those mistakes from becoming costly breaches.