The behave hub

Will data, metrics and a scientific approach eventually eliminate all human cyber risk?

Written by Oz Alashe MBE, CEO and founder of CybSafe, Digital Leaders SME of the Year 2019. In 1971, astronaut David Scott stood before cameras mounted on the Moon armed with a feather in his left hand and a hammer in his right. “I guess one of the reasons we got here today,” Scott explains via a microphone hidden beneath his space suit, “was because of a gentleman named Galileo.”

Using AI and machine learning to improve cyber defences and reduce human cyber risk

To understand how AI and machine learning can reduce cyber risk, it’s worth considering how a typical taxi journey will look in a few years time.Today, when you jump into a taxi, you’re greeted by a driver who might inquire into your preference of radio station and ask you one or two cursory questions while edging you towards your eventual destination.

In the absence of a secure culture, reducing cyber risk could be impossible

To understand why it might be impossible to reduce human cyber risk without a secure culture, it’s worth considering a series of experiments from the world of behavioural science.The experiments weren’t designed to uncover security insights. Rather, they were designed to demonstrate quirks in human behaviour. Specifically, they were designed to reveal why people sometimes “cheat”.

You are almost certainly miscalculating your cyber risk

Although it might not seem like it, people’s actions following 9/11 demonstrate just how likely it is you’re miscalculating your cyber risk.Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, people began to change their travel plans.

Some people love to take a risk. So shouldn’t we be tailoring security awareness training?

As you may already be aware, most people prefer to avoid taking risks. In fact, most people prefer to avoid taking risks so much that they fail to do so even when taking the risk makes complete and total sense.

Some simulated attacks help reduce cyber risk. Others are redundant. What’s the difference?

Here’s an interesting conundrum for cyber security professionals.Some simulated attacks reduce human cyber risk. Others, however, have no effect on risk – and may even have a negative impact.

The two most common phishing scams that affect UK businesses

Phishing scams evolve constantly. Don’t they? On the one hand, yes. Sophisticated cyber criminals are very much aware that, once a phishing scam becomes well known, its potency falls. So, over time, phishing scams adapt and evolve. On the other hand, the the nuts and bolts of phishing scams are surprisingly static. On the whole, phishing attacks are quick, cheap and disastrously effective. Knowing this, criminals rarely tweak the inner workings of their phishing scams all that much.

Security Awareness Training: The Old Definition and the New

At the time of writing, Google tells us security awareness training is “a formal process for educating employees about computer security.”You can bet it’s a prevalent definition: the search engine sifts through every indexed web page ever written on the topic to return the single, succinct and simple sentence.

The ‘ABC’ guide to improving information security

It’s an unfortunate fact, evident to both those who work in security and those who don’t, that security awareness training in its current form isn’t working.

The top 18 questions we get asked about CybSafe

CybSafe’s many technological innovations often intrigue audiences during demonstrations – and elicit questions that aren’t necessarily run-of-the-mill.

Award-winning cyber security awareness platform CybSafe secures £3.5m Series A investment

Wow. We’re super pumped about life right now. This is because following an investment of £3.5m in Series A funding, our award-winning cyber security awareness platform is poised to explore new territory and continue breaking boundaries.

Calculating your true phishing vulnerability

Have you ever wondered whether your reduced phishing susceptibility rate is really telling the full story? Or wondered why it may be low one week but spike the next?

Is “domain dependence” limiting our cyber security awareness?

Let’s talk domains. Not web domains, but domains in life. Areas, specialisms, disciplines – call them what you want. Domain dependence is indeed pervasive. And it could be why so many people struggle to take cyber security as seriously as they should.

Traditional cyber awareness programmes are failing to keep people safe online

Whether through simulated attacks or otherwise, psychological research suggests awareness campaigns that connect with people on an emotional level will do far more good than those that don’t.

How our desire for consistency could prevent more cyber attacks

The human preference for consistency could boost security – but in practice it often does the exact opposite

What actually is “the human aspect of cyber security”?

The definition of the human aspect of cyber security is changing. Here’s what it means in a traditional sense, as well as what it will mean in the future.

Free virtual summit on the people, culture and social aspects of cyber security

The world’s first 100% free, 100% virtual summit focused on the people, culture and social aspects of cyber security will take place during London Tech Week 2018

Introducing the Research Library: the world’s first archive of research into the human aspect of cyber security

The Research Library is a vault summarising and linking to, at present, 148 (although that number is growing) research papers, models, frameworks and resources on the human aspect of cyber security.