Human risk management: How MSPs protect organizations against a key threat
MSPs can help organizations with a key cybersecurity risk: human behavior. Learn how an MSP is best positioned to provide human risk management strategies.
Key takeaways from this article on human risk management:
- Human error causes some 95% of cyberattacks. Managed service providers (MSPs) can deploy human risk management (HRM), which combines training, monitoring, and policy enforcement to mitigate human error and turn employees into security assets,
- MSPs deploy HRM tools such as risk assessments, configuration enforcement, phishing simulations dark web monitoring, and continuous observation to identify vulnerabilities, close security gaps, and strengthen compliance.
- By offering training, strategic guidance, and best-practices frameworks, MSPs help organizations build a proactive security culture that reduces human risk, improves resilience, and stays ahead of emerging threats.
Managed service providers (MSPs) are well positioned to help organizations with a central cybersecurity vulnerability: human risk. In fact, email and collaboration security provider Mimecast estimates human error contributes to 95% of cyberattacks. And according to the “2024 Insider Threat Report,” 48% of organizations reported that insider attacks have become more frequent over the past 12 months.
Just as organizations have to focus on external risks, they have to develop strategies for addressing internal cybersecurity risks. As a result, human risk management (HRM) is becoming a key approach to safeguard companies against internal threats.
Organizations have come to recognize that they need HRM strategies to address human risks to cybersecurity. According to the same survey, 95% of respondents say that their organization is using AI to help defend against cybersecurity attacks and/or insider threats.
What is human risk management?
Human risk management is the practice of identifying, measuring, and reducing security risks that human behavior causes, such as clicking on phishing links or mishandling data. When successful, HRM mitigates human error and nefarious activity by combining security training, behavioral analysis, and policy enforcement to build a stronger security culture.
When formalized, the discipline of human risk management identifies human behavior that creates cybersecurity risk, such as these activities:
- clicking on phishing links in emails
- mistakenly sharing sensitive data with unauthorized recipients
- using or sharing weak passwords
- failing to update security patches
- connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks
- neglecting configuration drift and change management
- attempting to access or share privieleged company information
- inadvertently leaving systems with critical data exposed due to misconfiguration
How MSPs help organizations deploy human risk management
MSPs offer critical expertise, tools and strategies, and training to deliver HRM. MSP methods include continuous monitoring, personalized training, and automated responses, enabling organizations to effectively transform an organization’s workforce from a risk to a resilient security asset.
MSPs can mitigate this key source of vulnerability. They can identify individual risk, automate personalized security awareness training, run phishing simulations, and monitor for exposed credentials on the web.
MSPs also manage identity and access management policies, assess risk through continuous monitoring and analysis, and provide visibility into security gaps to reduce vulnerabilities, reduce client risk, and foster a stronger security culture.
Key areas in which to deploy human risk management
Risk assessment. Through regular assessments, vulnerability scans, and platforms that provide real-time data and human risk dashboards, MSPs can uncover an organization’s specific security blind spots and vulnerabilities—addressing these areas with policy and training if necessary.
Continuous monitoring. MSPs provide ongoing observation and analysis of an organization’s environment to detect risk indicators and ensure that security controls are functioning correctly. Monitoring also encompasses visiblity into employee actions, identifying patterns that might indicate malicious intent, such as unusual access attempts or data exfiltration attempts.
Identity and access management. According to a recent Cisco Duo report, 69% of respondents say that they lack visibility into identity vulnerabilities and 55% into access management. IAM is a key area where MSPs can help organizations develop strategies and deploy solutions.
Compliance support. By helping clients adhere to regulations and manage security policies, MSPs mitigate risks of non-compliance, which can lead to fines, legal issues, and reputational damage.
Training and education. MSPs use human risk management platforms to assess user knowledge gaps and deliver customized, automated training programs. This helps to build a proactive security mindset, rather than a reactive one.
Phishing simulation. According to DeepStrike data, 36% of attacks begin with phishing. By automating and deploying regular phishing simulations, MSPs can gauge employee resilience to new attack techniques and provide immediate feedback and targeted training.
Dark web monitoring. MSPs can proactively monitor the dark web for stolen user credentials—acquired via third-party data breaches. MSPs can notify affected customers and take action to protect exposed accounts.
Policy management. MSPs simplify and streamline the process of managing security policies by using tools that auto-generated policies and also automate notifications and approvals, ensuring that users are consistently aware of and adhere to security standards.
Best practices-driven cybersecurity framework. Integris has developed a framework to ensure that an organization’s cybersecurity platform is integrated, and proactive. The Responsible IT Architecture (RITA) framework monitors for current and emerging threats by identifying and finding the patterns in bad actors’ behavior—so your cybersecurity strategy can anticipate and stay ahead of malicious attacks.
Strategic guidance and support. MSPs act as trusted advisers and support partners, guiding clients on where they should focus their security efforts and developing strategies to mitigate human error.
Only 6% of respondents to the Mimecast survey say that their organization’s security policies are continuously updated based on emerging trends. This is where organizations can benefit from the work of MSPs—who stay abreast of novel strategies from malicious attackers.
Considering a new approach to HRM
If your organization hasn’t taken a proactive approach to identifying, addressing, and mitigating human risk management, the status quo is dangerous. It can make your company more vulnerable to threats from those you rely on to champion your mission and growth.
Malicious attackers are becoming more sophisticated and rely on an engaged employee base to test and deploy new tactics. Now is the time to consider an IT assessment to understand your points of vulnerability and where human risk management—and potentially an MSP to help you build an HRM strategy—plays a part.
If your organization needs ro reduce the human element in its cybersecurity posture, consider human risk management.
Are you interested in learning more about Integris cybersecurity solutions, IT assessments, and Responsible IT Architecture framework.
