Many businesses pour thousands of dollars into advanced firewalls, antivirus software, and secure cloud infrastructure to protect their systems. Yet even the strongest security tools can be undermined by one of the biggest vulnerabilities in any cybersecurity strategy: the person at the keyboard.
According to Mimecast’s State of Human Risk 2026 report, human risk remains the leading cybersecurity challenge for organizations worldwide. Cybercriminals understand that it’s often far easier to deceive an employee than to break through a well-fortified system. This does not mean employees are careless. It highlights the need for organizations to provide employees with the right training, tools, and support to recognize and respond to threats before they escalate.
How employees can create cybersecurity risks
Employees can become involved in cybersecurity incidents in different ways. Some risks happen accidentally, some result from compromised accounts, and others involve intentional misuse of access.
Common categories of employee-related cybersecurity risk include:
- Unintentional mistakes: Employees who accidentally expose information, fall for phishing attempts, or bypass security procedures for the sake of convenience
- Compromised accounts or devices: Staff whose passwords, accounts, or devices have been taken over by a cybercriminal
- Intentional misuse: Current or former employees who deliberately steal information, misuse access privileges, or sabotage systems
Many cybersecurity incidents involving employees stem from everyday actions, such as clicking a malicious link, sharing sensitive information, or reusing passwords. Some examples include:
- Phishing emails: Cybercriminals trick staff into clicking malicious links or providing login details.
- Business email compromise: A cybercriminal impersonates an executive, coworker, or vendor to manipulate employees into moving funds or divulging sensitive information
- Reused passwords: A stolen password may unlock multiple accounts when employees use the same credentials across platforms
- Delayed software updates: Employees who skip software updates leave systems exposed to known vulnerabilities and the latest malware threats.
- Unsecured devices: Personal phones and laptops used for work may not have the same protections as company-managed equipment.
- Collaboration tool scams: Cybercriminals exploit workplace trust by launching social engineering attacks through platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Slack.
The true cost of human error
Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found that approximately 60% of breaches involved a human element, spanning errors, social engineering, and credential misuse. It’s a stark reminder of why employees remain such an attractive target for cybercriminals looking for an easy way into business systems.
Mimecast’s 2026 report added further weight to this concern, with surveyed organizations estimating the average cost of a single insider-driven data incident at $13.1 million. While this figure reflects businesses ranging from 250 to over 10,000 employees and shouldn’t be taken as the benchmark for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), it illustrates how rapidly costs tied to investigations, downtime, legal support, recovery, and lost business can escalate.
Larger organizations may have the financial resilience to absorb such losses, but SMBs face a far more unforgiving reality. A single human error can disrupt essential services, delay customer work, increase insurance costs, and damage the reputation a company has spent years building.
How to reduce employee-related cybersecurity risks
While businesses can’t prevent every mistake, they can take steps to minimize employee-related risks and limit the impact when they do occur.
Secure company and personal devices
Implement a mobile device management (MDM) solution to give your IT team greater control over security settings, updates, and company data across all approved devices. MDM also allows you to separate business data from personal content and remotely lock or wipe any device that is lost or stolen.
Every phone, laptop, and tablet that connects to your systems should be centrally managed. Also, enable automatic updates so that devices receive critical security patches when they are released.
Limit access and revoke it promptly
Employees should have access only to the files, applications, and systems required for their jobs. By limiting access, you reduce the amount of data a cybercriminal can reach if an account is ever compromised.
Moreover, review permissions whenever an employee changes roles, and when someone leaves the company, remove their access immediately and wipe any company data from their personal devices.
Strengthen account security
Equip employees with a password manager that creates and stores a strong, unique password for each account. This eliminates password reuse and removes the temptation to save credentials in spreadsheets or on sticky notes.
Where possible, enable multifactor authentication to add a second layer of verification, such as an in-app approval, requiring users to confirm their identity before access is granted.
Create clear cybersecurity policies
Keep policies concise, practical, and easy for employees to access. At a minimum, they should cover:
- Which devices and applications employees are allowed to use for work
- Where company data should be stored
- What information must not be entered into public AI tools
- How remote workers should secure their devices
- How to report errors or suspicious activity
Employees are far more likely to follow security procedures when they understand what is expected and why it matters.
Make cybersecurity training part of onboarding
Every new hire should complete a security briefing before accessing company systems. A well-designed onboarding program uses real-world examples to illustrate common threats and sets clear expectations around data handling, password hygiene, email safety, approved applications, device security, and incident reporting.
Provide ongoing cybersecurity training and testing
Security awareness should be reinforced throughout an employee’s time at the company. Short, role-specific sessions tend to be more effective than a single annual presentation, as they’re easier to absorb and retain.
Simulated phishing exercises can also give employees an opportunity to practice identifying suspicious messages. The goal is not to catch people out, but to surface gaps in knowledge and direct support where it is needed most.
Build a security-aware workplace with SpectrumWise
Your employees don’t have to be your biggest cybersecurity liability. With the right policies, secure devices, strong access controls, and ongoing training, they can become an effective line of defense.
SpectrumWise can help you identify employee-related risks, strengthen your security measures, and develop a practical cybersecurity strategy tailored to the way your team operates. Reach out to our IT experts to start safeguarding your business from within.