{"id":11531,"date":"2026-09-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/?post_type=news&p=11531"},"modified":"2026-09-16T16:37:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:37:43","slug":"the-human-firewall-from-security-awareness-training-to-human-risk-management","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/news\/the-human-firewall-from-security-awareness-training-to-human-risk-management\/","title":{"rendered":"The Human Firewall: from security awareness training to human risk management"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Zaki Soliman<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Product Sales Manager, Infinigate UK&I<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018human firewall\u2019 matters more than ever. People remain the primary target for cybercriminals, even as organisations invest heavily in technical controls such as firewalls, endpoint protection and identity security. Attackers know this. Increasingly, they exploit human behaviour through phishing, social engineering, business email compromise and other deception-led techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the idea of the human firewall has evolved. It is no longer simply about annual awareness training or compliance tick-boxes. It is about building a security-aware culture in which every employee understands their role in protecting the organisation and can apply critical thinking in real-world situations. As cyber threats become more personalised, more convincing and increasingly AI-enabled, good security habits need to become part of everyday decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand for security awareness training is rising rapidly. The global market is forecast to grow at a 16.82% CAGR between 2026 and 2031 (Mordor Intelligence<\/a>), driven by escalating social engineering attacks, ransomware losses, cyber-insurance requirements for evidence of employee cyber education, and the rapid rise of generative AI phishing toolkits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security awareness training is not a finite project. It must keep pace with a threat landscape that changes constantly. Human-targeted attacks are increasing in volume and sophistication; add regulatory pressure, cyber-insurance scrutiny and the realities of hybrid and remote working, and the need for greater organisational resilience becomes clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the threat landscape changes, so do the tools used to address it. Security awareness training is evolving into Human Risk Management (HRM): a broader, more measurable approach that combines simulated attacks, real-time coaching, behavioural insights and integrated security technologies to provide better visibility of potential threats, both inside and outside the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI and personalised cybersecurity training<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

AI is already embedded in many business processes and tools, and in cybersecurity it cuts both ways. On one side, it is fuelling a new generation of attacks. Phishing has shifted from a volume game to a precision game, enabling attackers to create convincing, highly personalised messages at scale. AI is also raising the quality of counterfeit websites, social engineering campaigns, deepfake audio and video, and impersonation attempts that exploit trust rather than technical vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other side, the same technology can strengthen our defences. AI can support risk analysis, personalised training, realistic simulations and real-time remediation. Combined with behavioural analytics and machine learning, it enables organisations to move from a reactive posture to a more proactive model: identifying risky patterns earlier, improving visibility of potential threats and limiting damage when incidents occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IT channel opportunity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As threats and workforces change, so must the training required to maintain cyber resilience. Content can quickly become outdated and must be refreshed to reflect emerging risks. New starters need training that is relevant to their role, while existing employees need regular reinforcement to build lasting habits. These needs support a recurring business model and create clear demand for managed services that the IT channel is well placed to deliver. The opportunity is significant: every organisation, regardless of size or sector, faces cyber risk and is looking for practical ways to strengthen its resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security awareness training is only one building block. Just as organisations penetration-test their technical environments for vulnerabilities, they must also understand and reduce human risk. Channel partners have an opportunity to advise customers on user-centric security technologies that create a protective layer around employees, including multi-factor authentication, password managers, SASE and micro-segmentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisations do not deploy a firewall once and then forget about it. The same principle applies to people. Human risk is dynamic, and it will continue to evolve. The organisations that treat it as an ongoing discipline, rather than a one-off training exercise, will be better equipped to stay resilient.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From security awareness training to human risk management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":11533,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"technologies":[7],"news-type":[160],"class_list":["post-11531","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","technologies-cybersecurity","news-type-blog"],"acf":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Infinigate | United Kingdom","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/11531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/11531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11538,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/11531\/revisions\/11538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"technologies","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/technologies?post=11531"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinigate.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=11531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}