What is Human Risk Management? | Sep 15, 2025

12 September 2025

What is Human Risk Management?

Human risk management (HRM) is a modern approach to solving workforce-related cyber challenges. It uses data to identify risky behaviors in real time and applies automated, personalized interventions to reduce the likelihood and impact of cyber incidents caused by people.

Put simply: it’s about taking the guesswork out of the human side of cybersecurity.

But HRM isn’t just a technology. It’s a mindset, an approach, and a strategy. A recognition that reducing human cyber risk requires more than training, education and good intentions.

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Why human risk management matters now

The need for HRM has emerged from a simple truth: traditional security awareness training (SAT) doesn’t go far enough. Largely because of it’s origins, primary purpose, and the baggage it carries.

SAT focuses on education and training. It’s often compliance-driven. It might raise awareness, but it often fails to change behavior and rarely reduces risk in measurable ways. HRM shifts the focus from awareness to action. From education to evidence.

This shift has been driven by five major forces:

Security leaders want proof – Awareness isn’t enough. Leaders want data that shows behavior change and reduced risk.
Executives want business value – CISOs must show how security investments improve operations and reduce risk.
Regulators want effectiveness – Auditors are asking how human risk controls are working — not just whether they exist.
Technology makes it possible – Advances in telemetry and analytics allow real-time visibility into user behavior.
Automation makes it scalable – HRM platforms now automate personalized interventions, fixing risk at the source.

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From SAT to HRM: what’s the difference?

	Security Awareness Training (SAT)	Human Risk Management (HRM)
Primary goal	Educate and raise awareness	Identify, influence, and reduce risk
Focus	Compliance and communication	Behavior, risk signals, and outcomes
Interventions	Pre-planned training, education and generic messaging	Personalized, real-time, automated interventions
Measurement	Training completion rates, phishing click and reporting rates	Behavior change, incident reduction, time saved
Technology use	LMS, simulated phishing platforms	Behavioral telemetry, orchestration, automation

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What HRM actually involves

At its core, HRM is about precision. It relies on data, often gathered from existing SaaS platforms like Microsoft 365, Slack, DLP tools, and endpoint solutions. This data provides context around what users are doing, how exposed they are, and where the risks lie.

Once risks are identified, HRM platforms intervene automatically — nudging people at the right moment, adjusting settings in the background, or escalating issues when needed. It means interventions don’t just educate — they fix.

And importantly, it means security teams spend less time chasing symptoms and more time preventing incidents.

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A foundation for increasingly adaptive human protection

Human risk management is not the endgame — in many ways it’s the beginning. It lays the foundation for increasingly adaptive human protection: a future where security controls anticipate risk, adapt to behavior, and protect people with little or no effort on their part.

Imagine a world where policies, processes, and tools flex automatically based on the risk posture of individual users. That’s where HRM is heading. That’s what’s needed in the AI era.

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Not everyone agrees on what HRM is

The term “human risk management” is still evolving. Even among those who accept it, there are three broad schools of thought:

“HRM is nothing new”
To this group, HRM is just a rebrand of SAT. A new name for an old field.
Spoiler: they’re missing the point.
“HRM is a spectrum”
SAT is the entry point, but at the far end of the spectrum is something far more dynamic: behavioral telemetry, intelligent automation, contextual guidance, and adaptive protection.
“HRM is fundamentally different”
HRM isn’t SAT at all. It requires live data, system integrations, and a feedback loop that remediates risk. Without telemetry and automation, you’re not managing human risk — you’re just raising awareness.

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The bottom line

Human risk management is not about replacing people with machines. It’s about augmenting people with insight. Giving security teams the data and tools to see more, do more, and fix faster.

In the age of AI-powered attacks and hyperconnected workflows, you can’t afford to treat human risk with blunt tools. HRM gives you precision. It’s the leap from telling people what to do — to actually helping them do it.

And for the first time, it gives security teams the chance to manage human risk with the same level of rigor as every other domain of cybersecurity.