A new white paper by cybersecurity veteran Chris Pogue argues that the technology industry has been ‘fighting the wrong battle with the wrong weapons’ against cybercrime for the past two decades.
The white paper, commissioned by Global technology company Nuix, contends that for technology to fight cybercrime and insider threats effectively, it must solve human vulnerabilities.
“In the more than 2,500 data breaches I have investigated, I can count exactly zero that were caused by non-human-initiated system failure: like it or not, people are the problem,” said Pogue, Nuix’s Senior Vice president, Cyber Threat Analysis.
The white paper examines five cognitive biases — ‘bugs in our brain software’ — that cause people to make poor decisions. It examines how other industries have learned to deal with these biases by concentrating on changing human behaviour / behaviour, and applies these lessons to the fight against cybercrime.
The white paper includes a strategic battle plan and practical action plan for organizations to focus on using technology, people, and processes to address the people problems of cybersecurity.
“Do we have what it takes to outsmart our own brains and stop ourselves from repeating the mistakes of the past?” said Pogue. “Hopefully we can set ourselves up for the next 20 years, get serious about security, address the real human vulnerability, and start reclaiming surrendered ground.”
Read the white paper (registration required).
