Employees Are a Security Risk at Your Vendor's Organization

As we’ve seen over the past several years, cyberattacks are on the rise and pose serious threats to organizations of all sizes and industries. Knowing this, it’s important to prioritize information security to ensure the safety of your customers’ confidential information, your organization’s sensitive data, and your reputation. Successful cyberattacks, from third-party data breaches to phishing campaigns, can lead to detrimental consequences for your organization including a tarnished reputation, legal action, fines, and operational issues.

Human error is often a leading cause for successful cyberattacks. So, while it’s important to identify gaps in your own and your vendors’ information security policies, it’s also crucial to promote cybersecurity awareness. By training your employees and your vendors on the best ways to identify a cyberattack, your staff and your vendors’ staff can become a critical line of defense against malicious actors. 

Learn more about why human error is a contributor to information security risk and best practices to mitigate this. 

Human Error Is a Vulnerability and Data Breach Contributor 

According to recent study conducted for Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report,  human error is a contributing factor for 82% of data breaches. These errors occur when employees (from within your organization or your vendors’) lack the proper training, concentration, information, and awareness necessary to proceed with caution and act according to cybersecurity best practices. 

Some of those errors include: 

• Logging into networks run on unsecure or public networks
• Failing to utilize VPNs  
• Employing weak passwords
• Not initiating software updates when prompted
• Accessing email attachments or clicking unsubstantiated links
• Becoming too relaxed when sending or receiving sensitive data files

To make it all a little more cumbersome, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in remote work. Of course, there are benefits to remote work, such as decreasing business disruptions, reduced overhead costs, and improving work/life balance for employees by reducing commute times, but it also introduced new risks and increased exposure to cyber threats. In many cases, staff members gained access to privileged networks and information on their personal devices, and, in turn, employees at your organization and many of your vendors’ organizations are using their personal phones for constant access to email and sensitive information. These rapid changes have exposed many organizations to risks that threaten their data privacy. 

Hackers are aware of this vulnerability and have continued to target both organizations and vendors and infiltrate private networks by taking advantage of human error.

Hackers Use Social Engineering as a Weapon

By now, most of us have heard horror stories of how hackers have gained access to personal data and an organization’s private networks, and we certainly hope that won’t be us one day. However, avoiding a data breach is only becoming more challenging as hackers are savvy at diversifying their methods and continue to develop new and sophisticated strategies for targeting and tricking their victims through social engineering. 

They’re trying to catch us when our inhibitions are down – when we’re stressed or distracted –and they use artificial, emotional language that causes us to respond without thinking. These attacks vary widely. Some examples are:

1. An unsolicited email requesting that you verify your bank information
2. A friend request on a social media website 
3. An email that appears to be from a contact with an attachment that contains a virus

A curious or distracted person may let their guard down and click a link which will then give the hacker access, and hackers use any opening they can to gain access. This is why social engineering is one of their greatest weapons. They target victims during periods of stress, fatigue, and confusion, when people are at their most vulnerable.

Vigilance and awareness are key, so trust your instincts and stay aware of any suspicious activity. By exercising caution and assessing how well your vendors train their employees to identify and report suspicious activity, you’ll take a critical step towards strengthening your organization’s defenses against hackers.