Email data loss prevention

TAG Cyber: Reduce human activated risk

by Egress
Published on 25th Feb 2022

TAG Cyber highlights the problem of human activated risk 

“Email will never catch on,” was the prediction from a UK politician in 1994. We all know how that theory turned out: email became the global online communication of choice. And since its meteoric rise in popularity, email’s death has been predicted again, many times.

However, according to Statista, more than 306bn emails were sent and received every day in 2020, and they predict this to rise to 376bn every day by 2025. Email isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the problems that come with it. A new report by TAG Cyber highlights what this means for organizations in terms of human activated risk and offers advice on a three-pronged strategy to protect themselves.

What is human activated risk?

Human activated risk is introduced by human behaviours or actions, through coercion by bad actors, human error or malicious intent. The interaction between people and technology is rarely perfect. Technology can malfunction or not work as it’s supposed to, but in many cases, the fault is with the person operating it.

Whether through carelessness, malicious intent, or being tricked by a third party, human activated risk goes hand in hand with email.

How we use email means there are many scenarios where human activated risk is introduced, leaving businesses highly susceptible to both inbound and outbound threats. These scenarios all have one key thing in common – a human element for the risk to be exploited. This imperfect relationship is a serious thorn in the side of IT security teams.

What you’ll learn in TAG Cyber’s report

The key to reducing human activated risk is engaging with people at the point where they are about to perform a risky action. Of course, it’s not possible to put a human cyber expert on the shoulder of every person in your organization, giving them a gentle nudge each time risk arises.

But can you use technology to get the same end result?

Download the report to learn:

  • Why the flawed relationship between people and technology creates risk
  • Where inbound and outbound email threats exist within your business
  • How to reduce human activated risk through the triple-pronged strategy of:
    • Phishing detection and protection
    • Outbound data loss prevention
    • Email encryption

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