There's a contradiction in cybersecurity: humans can be both the weakest link and the strongest. For instance, humans are highly susceptible to deception. This is an age-old problem; look no further than the Trojan Horse of Greek lore or the Ghost Army of World War II. In the latter case, Allied forces created inflatable tanks and faked radio traffic, among other deceptive tactics across Europe, to confuse, distract and divert enemy forces and save lives.
In cybersecurity, we see similar examples all the time. The 2024 Verizon Data Breach Incident Report revealed that 68 percent of breaches involved a non-malicious human element, like a person falling victim to a social engineering attack or making an error. However, with proper training (and the right technology), organizations can turn this so-called weakest link into their best defense.