Re-Thinking the Human Factor

Confidential data and our personal privacy are under threat as never before. With breaches and cyber attacks on the rise, political and legal pressure is growing on business and government to step up and meet this challenge. Unfortunately, organisations are still putting data and lives at risk because of an over-reliance on technology and an entrenched mindset that views human error and misjudgement as unmanageable flaws. This failure to address the ‘human factor’ is a missed opportunity, one that leaves them vulnerable and at a major commercial disadvantage. So, if they are to bring about a fundamental long-term shift in users’ levels of awareness and behaviour that’s effective and sustainable, organisations must adopt a different approach. In ‘Rethinking the Human Factor’, information security expert, Bruce Hallas sets out a new philosophical approach. Rather than creating a separate security culture, Hallas’ focus is on how to make risk mitigation an unconscious ‘habit’ that’s embedded within the organisation. His ground-breaking philosophy draws on insights from neuroscience, behavioural science and economics, marketing, psychology and culture, and shows it is possible to redesign information security initiatives by making ‘the right behaviour become the easy behaviour’. ‘Rethinking the Human Factor’ is thought-provoking reading for CIOs, CTOs and CISOs, as well as the increasing number of managers, independent consultants or anyone in the information security sector responsible for education, awareness and behaviour change programmes.