One click, the whole customer sheet
An analyst sends a sheet of customer details. She picks the wrong list. The sheet goes to three hundred people outside the firm.
No hacker was needed. Many leaks start with a person.
Today you meet four kinds of human threat, and the ways to reduce each.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Human error | A mistake made by accident. | sending to the wrong person |
| Malicious employee | A worker who harms the organisation on purpose. | |
| Disguised criminal | An outsider who pretends to have a right to be there. | |
| Cyber hygiene | Everyday habits that keep systems and data safe. | |
| File properties | Settings on a file, such as read-only, that control what can be done to it. | |
| Confirmation box | A pop-up that asks "Are you sure?" before an action. | |
| Suspend | Switch an account off at once, without deleting it. | |
| Visitor pass | A badge that shows someone is a guest. | |
| Password manager | A program that keeps strong passwords safe for you. | |
| Phishing | A fake message that tricks you into giving away data. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can name four human threats to a data system and give two ways to reduce each one.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Human error can be made smaller
Everyone makes mistakes: the wrong list, the wrong file, the wrong cell.
You cannot stop every mistake, but you can make each one smaller:
File properties. Set a master data file to read-only so nobody changes it by accident.
Confirmation boxes. "Delete 400 rows. Are you sure?" gives a moment to think.
Staff training. People who know the risks make fewer mistakes.
The malicious employee
Some workers harm the firm on purpose. They may be angry, paid by someone else, or about to leave.
They already have access, which makes them dangerous. An analyst can copy a whole table in a minute.
When you find one, remove them from the premises at once and suspend their accounts immediately. Do both quickly, or they can still do harm from home.
Check: error and malice
Have a go
Check: error and malice
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.