30% of cybersecurity professionals would not report a phishing email
AwareGO, a global provider of human cyber risk and awareness solutions, has released the results of a human risk assessment study conducted at Infosecurity Europe last month. At the center of the survey was the AwareGO’s Human Risk Assessment — an interactive platform used by organizations in order to identify, measure and human risk in cybersecurity. The results of the survey underscore the fact that even the most seasoned and sophisticated security experts are vulnerable to common security risks.
In the survey, one hundred cybersecurity professionals were asked five questions in an effort to check how much their knowledge differs from their personal behavior. The focus of these questions related to critical threat areas such as phishing, sensitive data, remote work and password handling.
“The survey really hits home in confirming that individuals of all levels can benefit from ongoing security awareness training,” said Ragnar Sigurdsson, Head of R&D and co-founder of AwareGO. “We all must stay vigilant and security aware of risks such as passwords and phishing schemes that can disrupt our business and put our organizations at risk every day.”
As expected 95 percent of those surveyed said that they understood what sensitive data is and that they would not share anything sensitive on social media. Also, 90 percent of those interviewed said that they would not use unsecured WiFi. Further, according to the survey, 90 percent of participants said that they can recognize a phishing email, yet only 30 percent said they would not report a phishing email — we kindly ask cybersecurity professionals to lead by example.
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The survey provided a number of other interesting findings. Overall, survey participants earned a 70/100 resilience score across assessed threat areas. On the subject of password strength, when asked to type in their password to verify its strength, 50 percent did enter a password. The real trick here was to insert no password at all.
For those interested in how they would perform in the survey, AwareGO is maintaining a mini version of the Human Risk Assessment survey that is open for a limited time. To take this assessment, individuals can visit the Mini Human Risk Assessment on the AwareGO website to see how they stack up with other cybersecurity professionals.
The results of the survey follow a series of recently published whitepapers that highlight the importance of improved organizational cybersecurity practices. In AwareGO’s “The Need for Human-Centered Cybersecurity,” the white paper explores the human role in how cybersecurity has become the top way for hackers to gain a foothold within critical infrastructure. In another whitepaper, entitled “Motives, Needs and Drivers for Cybersecurity Awareness Training in Modern Work Environments,” more than 160 cybersecurity leaders relayed their experience and expertise as it relates to improving organizational security. Lastly, in AwareGo’s “The Human Risk Assessment,” there is an exploration as to how to measure human behavior as it relates to cybersecurity, among other critical topics.
AwareGO’s Human Risk Assessment solution is based on human-behavioral science. The secure cloud-based solution allows companies to measure employees’ knowledge and behavior across several recognized human threat vectors, such as phishing, remote/hybrid work, passwords, and more, ultimately quantifying the company’s cyber resilience. Its interactive experience, friendly environment, and instant feedback make AwareGO’s Human Risk Assessment a transformative and indispensable tool for organizations striving to educate employees better and reduce cybersecurity risks. It has been tried and tested with Fortune 200 multinational enterprises but fits organizations of all sizes.
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