This is the first of a four-part series on How Virtru Is Making a Simple Difference in the Complicated World of Cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity is a complex space. Comprehensive strategies must encompass a wide range of technology elements including:
- Identity management (who is permitted to access data and how do I know it's them?)
- Endpoint security (what devices are they using to access information?)
- Network security (are they connecting via secure networks?)
- Application security (are they interacting with secure software applications?)
- Data security (is the data itself secure which is flowing in and out of the business?)
But, at the end of the day, cybersecurity is ultimately about people. It’s about people doing their jobs efficiently, and in a manner that does not expose the business to unnecessary risk. It's about people connecting with others to learn, grow, collaborate, and get things done. And, it's also about people share their own private information in order to receive essential services.
Recent high-stakes breaches have demonstrated that cybersecurity ultimately comes down to human decisions—whether that’s an employee fooled by a phishing attack, or sharing essential business information (like credentials) without securing it. According to Verizon's 2022 Data Breaches Investigations Report, 82% of data breaches involved a human element.
Solving the Human Element of Cybersecurity
In a highly technical world where IT professionals and engineers define and implement most of the security controls, how do we solve for humans? Non-engineers? Mere mortals?
At Virtru, we believe the answer is to make it easy for people to do the right thing with data.
Your average user is probably not an IT expert. They’re probably just someone who wants to get their job done, whether they’re in sales, marketing, or HR. They could be working in the medical field, or traveling on business, or simply juggling the many tasks on their plate at any given time.
For cybersecurity to be effective, it has to be easy.
Yves Couturier, CIO Executive France for the French Red Cross (Croix Rouge), said it well: “The job of the Red Cross is not to make IT, so you cannot assume that your users are IT geeks. They are not. So, if you want the users to use the technology, you need to get a simple yet efficient product like Virtru with a simple click, an elegant pop up. Nothing complicated. So we are always taking care to balance security, efficiency, and simplicity.”
Human Behavior and Cybersecurity
When you’re building out your cyber tech stack, it’s important to consider who will be using it—the mere mortals who are simply trying to get their work done.
To be effective, cybersecurity strategy should prioritize human behavior with tools that offer:
- Ease of use
- Integration with the apps people already use every day
- Automation whenever possible
- Simple tools that don’t hinder data sharing
Virtru Provides Cybersecurity for the People
When you ask a Virtru customer why they chose Virtru over the other data protection providers in the marketplace, the answer is almost always, “Because it’s so easy to use.” CIOs, CISOs, and IT leaders know that, in order for an organization to handle data securely, you have to give people tools they’ll actually use. And if those tools are too difficult, people won’t use them.
“It’s great having all the bells and whistles, but if your end users don’t know how to use it, they won’t use it, and it’s as simple as that,” said Leroy Cunningham, Information Security Manager at the Chartered Management Institute. “I like how clean and simple Virtru’s product is, it’s a simple toggle switch to turn it on or off, and it gives us more autonomy.”
Virtru is making a simple difference in the complicated world of cybersecurity by designing easy-to-use products for the people using them. Of course, those products also pack a punch by delivering powerful, enterprise-ready security. But their ease of use is part of what makes them so effective: People will actually use them, and they’ll instinctively know how to protect their sensitive data in the process.
If you’d like to talk to our team about Virtru’s data protection solutions, contact us. We’d love to connect with you and empower your teams to protect and respect your organization’s most essential data.
