Humans represent the biggest security gap

According to a new report, 74 percent of all cyber breaches are caused by human factors, including errors, stolen credentials, misuse of access privileges, or social engineering.

More than two-thirds believe employees are putting the organization at risk through the misuse of email, oversharing company information on social media, and careless web browsing. This highlights the need for staff to receive better training on the risks.

The State of Email and Collaboration Security 2024 from Mimecast, based on interviews with 1,100 CISOs and other IT professionals, also shows that the emergence of AI is accelerating the spread of phishing and ransomware by making it easier for threat actors to perpetrate successful attacks.

Eight out of 10 respondents are concerned about new threats posed by AI and 67 percent say AI-driven attacks will soon become the norm. As companies prepare for these new threats, they’re viewing cyber risks as a wider business problem, not just an IT problem.

Email remains the primary attack vector for cyber threats like phishing, spoofing, and ransomware, but collaboration tools offer new and dangerous points of entry for bad actors. 70 percent expect collaboration tools to pose new threats, and 69 percent believe it is likely that their company will be harmed by a collaboration tool-based attack.

"Emerging tools and technologies like AI and deepfakes, along with the proliferation of collaboration platforms are changing the way threat actors work; but people remain the biggest barrier to protecting companies from cyber threats," says Marc van Zadelhoff, Mimecast CEO. "Cybersecurity and IT teams need to work with wider business leaders to prioritize understanding human risk. With the right tools and education, companies can better safeguard against threats and manage human risk."

The full report is available to download from the Mimecast site.

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