Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies: Uniting Human Risk Management and Security Awareness Training

• By Erich Kron
• May 30, 2025

Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors.

Human risk management (HRM) and security awareness training (SAT) have grown to become indispensable elements in resolving cyber threats. Although SAT has long been the foundation for employee security training, HRM adds data-driven assessment of security behaviors and quantification of human-enabled risk to help mitigate cybersecurity threats.

Recognizing the Distinctions Between HRM and SAT
SAT focuses on educating employees on recognizing cyber threats, company security policies, and best practices through initiatives such as simulated testing, video modules, and individual coaching. This makes employees aware of the threats they are likely to face. But knowledge does not always translate to action or safer end-user practices. HRM is the next iteration in employee education, moving the focus from simple awareness to quantifiable human risk reduction. It identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes human-related risk, then implements interventions aimed at fostering positive behavioral changes and enhancing overall security culture.

Key Aspects of this Unified Approach
Human risk management and SAT are both essential components of a human-centric cybersecurity strategy. HRM takes a comprehensive approach to reducing the risks associated with human errors in organizations. Security awareness training is a key component of HRM--a tool for educating end users to help thwart malicious social engineering and phishing campaigns.

• SAT emphasizes knowledge transfer. HRM emphasizes quantifiable risk reduction by considering employees' intrinsic motives and actions. The latter is holistic in nature and includes aspects such as policy compliance, behavioral analysis, and continuous monitoring to reduce risks arising from employee actions, both inadvertent and deliberate, through constant engagement and actionable feedback.
• While SAT is a stand-alone tool providing standardized training that might end in employee disinterest, HRM can be integrated into the organization's security stack. This enables it to track employee actions, measure risks at the individual level, and prioritize tailored training based on real-time inputs from tools such as phishing simulations, endpoint security, and incident response platforms.
• SAT platforms generally provide one-size-fits-all training to users regardless of their individual risk profiles. HRM utilizes AI and machine learning technologies to offer customized training and targeted security advice, tailored to employee behavior, role, and past interactions.
• SAT is typically rolled out as an element of annual compliance requirements or a reactive initiative following a security breach. HRM is proactive and ongoing, evolving and adjusting to threats in the organization, security trends, and the shifting work patterns and technologies used by staff.

Combining HRM and SAT to Strengthen Security Culture
By complementing one another, HRM and SAT result in an adaptive security culture that evolves to counter human threats. Awareness training is integral to HRM’s comprehensive approach to handling human-centric cybersecurity risks. HRM provides insights into high-risk employees by using behavior-based data, enabling organizations to tailor their SAT programs to the technical skills and specific threats faced by individual employees. As new attack vectors emerge, SAT modules can dynamically adjust to ensure relevance to the current threat environment.

Traditionally, SAT operates on fixed schedules. However, organizations can define SAT frequency based on risk scores determined by the HRM platform. For example, when an employee demonstrates risky behavior, such as opening a phishing email or inadvertently sharing sensitive information with unauthorized recipients, HRM can trigger instant, targeted SAT interventions rather than waiting for quarterly training cycles to begin. By monitoring employees' reactions to security issues, HRM can gauge SAT effectiveness and adjust training according to real-world risk data rather than assumptions.

Machine learning algorithms empower HRM to detect anomalies and correlations, including the prediction of insider attacks or compromised user endpoints. Using this information, organizations can modify their SAT program to adjust to the warnings in advance, enabling corrective employee behavior that can prevent a security breach.

In situations where a security incident has already occurred, HRM maintains ongoing risk analysis by establishing a feedback loop to improve SAT strategies that focus on actual attack scenarios. For instance, in cases of sensitive data leakage through insider attacks, HRM can modify SAT programs to concentrate on the breaches, allowing employees to be made aware of the specific failures that led to the incidents.

While security awareness training continues to be a mainstay of cybersecurity initiatives, evolving threats necessitate a broader, more adaptive approach through human risk management. By adopting HRM, organizations can move beyond awareness toward a model of measurable, actionable, and sustainable human risk mitigation. The convergence of HRM and SAT results in a robust security posture that enhances organizational resilience and establishes a responsive security culture.