Human error is the leading cause of cybersecurity breaches
When we talk about cybersecurity, most people think of firewalls, encryption, and expensive software. That’s important, but it’s not the real threat. The largest risk today isn’t software, it’s human behavior. One employee forgetting to update their password or clicking a link without stopping to verify can do more damage than outdated infrastructure.
The Colonial Pipeline incident in 2021 proves this. One compromised password took down the biggest fuel pipeline in the U.S., triggering fuel shortages across the East Coast and costing millions. That didn’t happen because the attackers had better tools. It happened because someone made a mistake.
If you’re in the C-suite, here’s what matters: no amount of high-tier tech can fully protect you unless your people understand their role in cybersecurity. This isn’t a compliance box to check. It’s a fundamental risk management strategy. You don’t need to make people experts, that’s unrealistic, but you do need to make cybersecurity awareness second nature for everyone from the receptionist to the VP of Finance.
According to data widely cited across the industry and referenced directly by the FBI, human error is a factor in up to 95% of cybersecurity breaches. That means most attackers don’t start with the code, they start with psychology. And it means your weakest point could be a staff member who’s just tired, distracted, or in a hurry.
The question to ask is simple: how often are we making it easy for them?
Employees are both the primary cybersecurity risk and the most effective defense
Let’s be honest, your employees are the door. Attackers either walk through it or they don’t, depending on how much training and culture you’ve invested in. Right now, a gifted hacker doesn’t need to crack your systems. They just need one busy team member to click the wrong link.
That makes people both your biggest risk and your most powerful defense. If employees know what to look for, they don’t just avoid risks, they shut attackers down early. That’s leverage. And you only get it by making security awareness part of your company DNA.
Culture drives behavior. If cybersecurity is something only the IT department talks about, the rest of the company tunes it out. If it’s spoken about in leadership meetings, reinforced by managers, and supported with clear action plans, then people listen. They adopt better habits. Over time, those shifts compound into real protection, more effective than any piece of software you’ll buy this quarter.
As Ken Underhill, lead cybersecurity expert at TechnologyAdvice, said: “Cybersecurity has become everyone’s responsibility, from the CEO to the janitor to the accounting team.” He’s right. Every team member who pauses to verify a suspicious message adds a layer of protection that no tool can replace.
This approach isn’t complicated. It doesn’t require extra headcount or huge spend. Start with visibility, give people the right information at the right time, and set expectations fast. People generally want to do the right thing, they just need to know what that is and have leadership backing the mission.
Real-world examples highlight how easily even experienced individuals can fall for cyber scams
One of the biggest misconceptions in cybersecurity is this: smart people don’t fall for scams. That’s false. Intelligence doesn’t insulate anyone from being tricked, and experience doesn’t eliminate human error. Cybercriminals count on this assumption. They aim for professionals who are overworked or in a rush. They don’t need complexity, they just need precision and timing.
Take Barbara Corcoran. In 2020, her team transferred close to $400,000 to a scammer. The attack succeeded because the fake email looked almost identical to one from her assistant. The sender’s address had a one-letter difference, easy to miss. The invoice looked routine. The request sounded reasonable. And the money was gone before the real assistant ever saw the thread.
Then there’s Philip Murray. He’s a trained cybersecurity specialist who shared publicly that he lost hundreds in a phishing scam. He received a fake request from someone claiming to be his boss during a period when he was sleep-deprived as a new father. He followed instructions without thinking twice and realized the mistake only after a night of rest. He admitted it on LinkedIn with blunt honesty, proof that being informed doesn’t always mean being protected.
The lesson here is direct: emotional states override logical protocols. Distraction, urgency, fatigue, even among trained professionals, are exploited just as effectively as outdated software. For executives, this should shift how you view training. It’s not a one-time webinar. It’s an ongoing behavioral framework. Conditioning people to double-check, to pause, to verify under pressure, that’s where your resiliency improves.
These are not fringe scenarios. These are daily realities. And if experienced individuals like Corcoran’s finance staff or cybersecurity trainers can fall for these tactics, so can your teams, unless you design systems and communication practices that expect these slip-ups and reduce their odds.
Remote and hybrid work environments expand the attack surface for cybercriminals
Remote work is entrenched. The flexibility is good for talent, good for productivity, and, if you don’t address the risk, very good for cybercriminals. Distributed teams mean distributed security weaknesses. The perimeters you once relied on are gone. You’re dealing with consumer-grade routers, public Wi-Fi in cafes, and devices handling both confidential business and personal browsing.
As of Q1 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 23% of employees are working from home. For many companies, that’s no longer temporary, it’s structural. And criminals are adapting faster than leadership teams.
One in 16 home Wi-Fi routers can still be accessed using default credentials. That’s all an attacker needs to jump from a compromised household device into a corporate channel, especially if the employee is logged into work systems using the same network. Add in the growing use of shared tablets, IoT devices, and unsecured collaboration tools, and your exposure increases rapidly.
VPNs, password managers, secure endpoints, these are needed, but they’re reactive. What you also need is strategy. You need documented expectations for remote environments: what’s allowed, what isn’t, and what’s recommended across varied setups. If someone is using a personal laptop because the company didn’t ship them a device, you have a risk. If they’re connecting via hotel Wi-Fi and don’t have a VPN, you have another.
You can’t fix home infrastructure for every employee, but you can improve control and clarity. This includes offering security tools, automating updates, granting the right access levels, and providing short, timely guidance in language that makes sense.
Remote work doesn’t weaken your security because people are off-site. It weakens it when you don’t redesign operations to fit the new attack landscape. If your processes still assume people are behind corporate firewalls, you’re behind the curve. You need to assume they’re not, and prepare accordingly.
Recognizing red flags is key to preventing cyber threats
Most attacks don’t arrive looking dangerous. They look ordinary. That’s the point. The better attackers get at mimicking familiar tone, branding, and structure, the more important it becomes for people to recognize subtle indicators of risk. Cybersecurity awareness isn’t about memorizing every possible threat, it’s about knowing what doesn’t look right and acting on that instinct consistently.
Frontline threats share repeatable patterns. Emails demanding urgent action, especially involving money or credentials, often signal manipulation. A sender address that looks familiar but is off by one letter is another indicator. Unfamiliar file types, unexpected links, or messages coming through unrecognized communication channels fall into similar categories. All of these are detectable with minimal technical skill. The challenge lies in having the presence of mind to pause and verify under pressure.
Deepfake technology is no longer speculative. Attackers are now generating convincing audio or video of executives, mimicking speech patterns and voices, issuing urgent instructions that sound legitimate. If your staff treats official-looking communication as inherently trustworthy, these tactics will continue to succeed. Training must adapt. People need clear standards for verification. If a request deviates from normal workflows, there must be a habit of validating through internal channels, email alone is not enough.
For leaders, this is an operational discipline. You either build an organization that tolerates vigilance, even if it causes delays, or one that prioritizes speed without asking hard questions. Avoiding attacks has less to do with technical barriers and more to do with reinforcing behaviors across every level. Cybercriminals expect emotion to override protocol. A leadership culture that favors calm confirmation over reactive execution shifts that advantage.
Relying solely on technology is not enough, building a workplace security culture is vital
Technical safeguards matter. They’re foundational. But they don’t prevent the most common failures, people making fast decisions without full context. Firewalls, antivirus software, and endpoint protection work well when consistently maintained, but they don’t override bad judgment. Reliance on them alone creates a weak link.
Security culture isn’t software. It’s an operating mindset. It means everyone knows their role in cyber defense and understands the risks tied to their everyday behavior. If someone doesn’t report a suspicious attachment because they’re unsure, that’s a gap. If people don’t feel empowered to flag concerns, your tools won’t catch everything. Leadership has to remove hesitation and replace it with structured awareness.
You don’t need a massive internal campaign. You need consistency. Make training relevant and brief. Show examples that connect to real outcomes, like missing a one-character typo in an email costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Clarify what actions are expected, what to do when unsure, and who to contact. Reward reporting, not just perfect behavior.
Ken Underhill, lead cybersecurity expert at TechnologyAdvice, put it clearly: “Technology can block millions of threats a day, but it only takes one employee’s mistake to let an attacker in.” That’s not hypothetical, it’s operational reality. Every password reset, delayed email reply, or IT ticket submission that prevents a breach matters.
If you’re in the C-suite, this is your mandate. You already invest in infrastructure, compliance, and insurance. Culture is part of that strategy too. Build a climate where risk awareness is shared, not siloed. It’s not about turning employees into cybersecurity specialists, it’s about making them alert, supported, and willing to speak up before a problem turns into a crisis.
Main highlights
- Human error drives most breaches: Leadership should prioritize continuous employee security awareness training, as up to 95% of cyber incidents stem from avoidable human mistakes, not technical flaws.
- People are your best defense: Empower employees at all levels to recognize and report suspicious activity; strong cybersecurity culture starts with clear leadership expectations and reinforcement.
- Experience doesn’t guarantee immunity: Invest in scenario-based training that simulates real attacks, as even seasoned professionals can fall for scams when fatigued, distracted, or rushed.
- Remote work expands exposure: Executives should reassess their security posture for hybrid teams by enforcing VPN use, zero-trust frameworks, and basic endpoint hygiene like router password changes.
- Risk often hides in plain sight: Codify a verification-first mindset across the organization by teaching employees to consistently pause and check emails, requests, and sender identities, especially under pressure.
- Tools aren’t enough without culture: Strengthen your human firewall by embedding cybersecurity behavior into daily operations, ensuring that vigilance and accountability are part of the team’s working rhythm.
