While cybersecurity professionals often focus on firewalls, encryption and software vulnerabilities, the real battleground is human psychology. While organisations remain fixated on digital defences, humans are the most reliable vulnerability in any system. That’s why statistics show that 98 percent of cyberattacks rely on social engineering. A Qantas data breach in June showed just how cybercriminals can exploit human-centred vulnerabilities to great success. Cybercriminals used social engineering to manipulate staff at a Manila-based call centre. Workers are trained to be helpful, trusting and cooperative. The cybercriminals could exploit that training to gain access to names, addresses, phone numbers, emails and frequent flyer information. This wasn’t a technological failure; it was a human one.
In cybersecurity, people are the weak point | The Strategist
