Cybersecurity alert: Over 80% of organizations fall victim to employee-targeted cyberattacks, Fortinet study shows

Fortinet released its 2023 “Security Awareness and Training Global Research Brief” highlighting the importance of organizations building a cyber-aware workforce to strengthen their security posture and reduce cyberattacks.

The latest research from Fortinet’s 2023 security brief reveals that more than 90 percent of leaders believe that increased employee cybersecurity awareness would help decrease the occurrence of cyberattacks. As organizations face increasing cyber risks, the research highlights the important role of employees in serving as an organization’s first line of defence in protecting their organization from cybercrime.

Additional key findings from Fortinet’s research include:

• Employees are being targeted by cybercriminals. The research found that 81 percent of organizations faced malware, phishing, and password attacks last year which mainly were targeted at users. This underscores that employees can be an organization’s weakest point or one of its most powerful defences.
• Having an effective training program is key to instilling good cyber hygiene in employees. Eighty-five percent of leaders say their organization has a security awareness and training program, yet more than 50 percent believe their employees still lack cybersecurity knowledge. This gap suggests the training programs in place may not be as effective as they could be, resulting in inconsistency in how employees apply good cyber hygiene practices or that training is not reinforced sufficiently.
• Cybersecurity is increasingly becoming a priority for the board of directors. The report found that 93 percent of organizations indicated their board of directors are asking about the organizations cyber defenses and strategy.

The survey was conducted among more than 1,800 IT and/or cybersecurity decision-makers from 29 different locations. Survey respondents came from a range of industries, including technology (21 percent), manufacturing (16 percent) and financial services (13 percent).