The Human Risk Podcast15 Jan 2024

Sarah Armstrong-Smith on The Cyber Attacker Mindset

What’s the most effective way to manage cyber risk? The obvious answer is to have more sophisticated security systems. My guest on this episode thinks the answer is humans.

That’s because behind every cyber attack, there is a human, and the biggest point of vulnerability within an organisation is its humans. If we can better understand humans and how they behave, we can be more effective at managing cyber risk.

That’s the view of my guest on this episode, Sarah Armstrong-Smith. She’s the Chief Security Advisor at Microsoft and a leading expert in the cybersecurity space.

She's also the author of a brilliant new book called Understanding the Cyber Attacker Mindset, in which she explores the human dynamics behind cyber attacks. In other words, why do the people who launch cyberattacks do so? If we can understand that, we can start to focus on the root cause of the problem.

In our discussion, we explore:

The crucial role human behaviour plays in cybersecurity;
The emotional and psychological aspects that can affect an organization's digital defences.
Why organisations need a cybersecurity strategy that is people-focused and considers the motivations of cyber attackers.
The importance of recognizing the internal cultural dynamics within an organization that may inadvertently aid cyber attackers;
How cognitive diversity can reinforce cyber defences.
How societal and cultural influences contribute to the ecosystem of cybercrime.
Why victim-blaming when it comes to cyber attacks is counter-productive
How phishing campaigns that punish those who fail tests are a bad idea;
The Seven Sins of Cyber Crime;
The benefits of fostering a supportive workplace culture.

And much much more.

To learn more and to pre-order Sarah’s new book ‘Understand the Cyber Attacker Mindset: Build a Strategic Security Programme to Counteract Threats’: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understand-Cyber-Attacker-Mindset-Counteract/dp/1398614289#

You can find Sarah:

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-armstrong-smith

On Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SarahASmith75

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