Peer Reviewed Journal via three different mandatory reviewing processes, since 2006, and, from September 2020, a fourth mandatory peer-editing has been added.
End user error continues to be a significant root cause of cybersecurity data breaches. Despite widespread progress in the establishment of training for end users and a slight downward trend in end user error-mediated compromises as a percentage of total successful attacks and data breaches, the absolute number of successful attacks and the overall amount of disclosed data continue to trend upward. Reporting of data breaches remains problematic, as will be described here. Modern social engineering attacks are sophisticated occurrences that bear little resemblance to early, primitive phishing exploits, and despite large increases in end-user training, they still succeed. Significant amounts of sensitive data continue to be exposed by unintended data disclosures not precipitated by social engineering attacks. While organizations are awash in broad guidelines for the implementation of training programs, most guidelines do not provide details on the most common and most damaging types of breaches. A detailed analysis of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse database of data breaches reveals patterns of errors that end users make that can inform the creation of more highly focused training programs.
