The biggest hole is a person
A worker clicks "Send to all" and the pay list goes to the whole company. Another leaves a laptop open at a cafe.
Neither meant harm. Many leaks start with people, not with clever hackers.
Today you meet four kinds of human threat, and the ways to reduce each.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can name four human threats to a system and give two ways to reduce each one.
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 be someone with 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. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
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.
Cycle 1: human error
Everyone makes mistakes: sending an email to the wrong person, deleting the wrong file, changing the wrong cell.
You cannot stop all mistakes, but you can make them smaller:
File properties. Set important files to read-only so they are not changed by accident.
Confirmation boxes. "Delete 400 files. 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 company on purpose. They may be angry, bribed or about to leave.
They already have access, which makes them dangerous.
When you find one: remove them from the premises at once and suspend their accounts immediately. Do both quickly, or they can still harm the system 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.