Human error has emerged as the predominant factor in data breaches, overtaking technological vulnerabilities in 2024. According to the latest State of Human Risk Report from Mimecast, a staggering 95% of breaches involved human mistakes. This trend is buttressed by findings from a corresponding survey by KnowBe4, which indicates that employees often overestimate their ability to detect phishing attempts. While 86% of respondents expressed confidence in identifying phishing emails, nearly half admitted to falling victim to such scams.
The data compiled in Mimecast’s report is drawn from interviews with 1,100 security and IT decision-makers conducted between November and December 2023. Meanwhile, KnowBe4’s survey, titled Security Approaches Around the Globe: The Confidence Gap, surveyed professionals across six countries who primarily work on laptops. Both reports highlight the increasing human factor in cyberattacks, underscoring the conditions that facilitate successful phishing attempts and data breaches.
Insider threats continue to pose significant risks, not solely from malicious employees, but also stemming from honest mistakes made by fatigued or inattentive workers. Mimecast’s survey revealed that 43% of respondents reported an uptick in internal threats due to employee errors over the past year, with a notable 66% expressing concern that insider-related data loss would further escalate in the forthcoming year. The report estimates the average cost of data exposure linked to insiders at $13.9 million.
Collaboration tools have also emerged as a growing security concern. Mimecast observed that although email remains the most prevalent attack vector, with 95% of respondents anticipating email security challenges in 2025, collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack are increasingly targeted. The report indicates a 7% rise in attacks on these tools throughout 2024, with 44% of surveyed organizations reporting a corresponding increase in incidents. Despite the risk, many organizations are not fully safeguarding these tools; 67% of respondents believed that the existing security measures for collaboration platforms are inadequate, and 79% acknowledged that these tools introduced new threats requiring urgent attention.
Amid these challenges, only 3% of survey respondents felt their cybersecurity budgets were sufficient to cover all necessary areas. While 85% reported an increase in budget over the last year, more than half noted that additional funds were necessary for enhancing cybersecurity personnel and securing collaboration tools. Interestingly, while concerns over email security persist, only 47% expressed a lack of sufficient funding for that domain.
Human risk management (HRM) programs are posited as a more effective approach to mitigating these risks compared to generic security awareness training. According to Mimecast, these programs can help identify employees at a higher risk of breaches and address their specific vulnerabilities, considering that just 8% of employees are responsible for 80% of cybersecurity incidents.
Overconfidence and underreporting of security issues have been highlighted as critical pitfalls in the KnowBe4 survey. Respondents displayed varying confidence levels in identifying phishing attacks, with only 32% of French professionals expressing certainty, contrasting sharply with 91% of South Africans. Yet, the latter group was also more susceptible to falling for scams. This discrepancy indicates that employees may not be as equipped to detect threats as they believe, given that cybercriminals can exploit numerous psychological and cognitive weaknesses.
Moreover, respondents reported that 12% had already encountered deepfake scams, raising alarms about the evolving threat landscape. While 55% of IT and security leaders acknowledged a lack of preparedness for AI-driven threats, the integration of AI in cybersecurity defenses is gaining traction, with 95% of Mimecast survey participants using AI tools to bolster their security posture.
In summary, these findings underscore the pressing need for organizations to reassess their cybersecurity strategies, with particular emphasis on human factors, insider threats, and the security of collaboration tools. Employing a proactive approach that includes robust HRM programs, ongoing training, and AI-assisted defenses will be crucial for mitigating risks and protecting organizational assets in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. The MITRE ATT&CK framework could shed light on potential adversary tactics that may have been underlying these incidents, including initial access through social engineering or persistence via compromised credentials. As the cybersecurity landscape evolves, maintaining vigilance and adapting to emerging vulnerabilities will remain paramount for business resilience.
