Mimecast unveils breakthrough human risk management platform

Wed 17 Jul 2024

Cybersecurity company, Mimecast, has announced the launch of its Human Risk Management (HRM) platform.

This new platform addresses the increasing need for effective risk mitigation related to employee mistakes and user errors, offering enhanced visibility into an organisation’s risk profile.

The HRM platform is designed to provide security teams with tools to score users by risk and to educate and protect those most vulnerable, thereby addressing the riskiest parts of the employee base. Built on a central risk engine, Mimecast’s connected HRM platform aims to counter evolving and sophisticated threats targeting human error within organisations.

CEO of Mimecast, Marc van Zadelhoff, said a small number of users tend to cause the majority of security issues.

“The platform is centred around protecting organisations from employee mistakes and user error, aligning key defence and data controls to offer a comprehensive approach to human risk management,” added van Zadehoff.

Historically, organisations have invested in disconnected security point products, which has resulted in security professionals being unable to differentiate risk across employees. End users often ignore continuous security warnings and bypass disparate controls, increasing both human and organisational risk.

Mimecast’s HRM platform seeks to resolve these issues by providing preventative controls and direct actions to mitigate risks associated with human behaviour, like clicking on malicious links or inadvertently sharing sensitive documents.

In the current connected environment, employees have access to numerous collaboration tools and unlimited organisational data, making them prime targets for complex attacks like business email compromise (BEC) and phishing. This environment also increases the likelihood of errors as employees multitask and use multiple tools simultaneously. Traditional security measures often fall short in addressing these human-centric risks, leading to significant vulnerabilities.

“The HRM platform integrates multiple technologies from Mimecast and various partners, assisting organisations in protecting collaboration and engaging employees in risk mitigation,” van Zadelhoff added.

Human Risk Dashboard: Enhanced Visibility

The HRM platform includes a human risk dashboard, which provides security teams with comprehensive visibility and risk scoring based on event data from both native Mimecast metrics and integrations with third-party tools.

This dashboard is designed to quantify attack factors, measuring the frequency and severity of inbound threats such as phishing attempts, blocked malware, and malicious web content. Organisations can tailor their security strategies based on this data, focusing awareness initiatives on employees who need more training and reducing interruptions for lower-risk employees.

Advancing Security Awareness

A key component of the HRM platform is Mimecast Engage®, a human risk awareness training offering. This technology aims to redefine how security leaders manage human risk by providing extensive visibility into employees’ risky behaviours. Mimecast Engage adapts interventions to each individual’s unique risk profile, potentially increasing productivity by reducing training interruptions for lower-risk employees.

“Mimecast Engage awareness and training enables security teams to identify and reduce risky behaviour with targeted training,” van Zadelhoff noted.

van Zadelhoff added the training offering also leverages risk insights from the Mimecast ecosystem and beyond to deliver contextual interventions at the point of risk, helping to ensure a more secure working environment.

Benefits to Organisations

The Human Risk Management platform offers several key benefits to organisations. The human risk dashboard provides comprehensive visibility across the collaborative landscape, enabling organisations to stay ahead of evolving threats.

The HRM platform aligns cyber and human risk to deliver detailed, actionable insights. CISOs and security analysts can use these insights to make informed decisions and deploy effective tactics. The unified, AI-powered platform is also designed to detect and eliminate threats promptly, facilitating precise and proactive decision-making.

Mimecast’s HRM platform and Mimecast Engage technology represent the latest advancements in the company’s mission to enhance security and transform the management and mitigation of risk.

By integrating security into the fabric of human interaction, Mimecast aims to set a new standard for protecting businesses in an increasingly complex digital world.