What is a Human Firewall?

When we talk about phishing security and combatting phishing, we often describe building a human firewall. But what actually is a human firewall? And how can you build yours?

We’ll cover those two questions in this article.

A human firewall

A human firewall is the human line of defence against cyber threats. It’s your staff & your colleagues using their training & knowledge to help prevent cybercrimes and other security breaches.

It is often considered the last line of defence against cyber threats, as for harmful communications or other threats to reach humans, means they’ve bi-passed any anti-virus, traditional firewall or other security measures.

Why humans are targeted

Because of human error. Humans, sooner or later, make mistakes*. We’re only human. And fraudster’s know this.

Cybercriminals are crafty and social engineering attacks (attacks using human interaction as a weak point) are one of the most frequent forms of data breaches. A staging up to 90% of Malicious Data Breaches Involve Social Engineering.

*I say mistakes, but the mistake could be a genuine accident OR just a lack of the right training and education.

Building a human firewall

Sadly, 66% of UK companies have experienced a successful phishing attack (Source: Tessian) and with 86% of organisations having had at least one person click on a phishing link (Source: Cisco), it’s no wonder.

So what can you do?

Build your human firewall. This involves arming your personnel with the right knowledge and awareness to spot and safely deal with phishing and other cyber security threats.

Where can I train my staff?

There are many great organisations that provide education, training and awareness, as well as real life simulations.

We are one such company, which you can find out more here or speak to our team.

Also a great place to go for information is the National Cyber Security Centre.

We hope you found this article useful. Stay safe and don’t get hooked!