Why Enhanced User Security Is Essential in a Hybrid, SaaS-Driven World

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The way we work has changed dramatically in recent years. The rise of hybrid work and reliance on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps has increased flexibility and productivity but also expanded the attack surface. With employees working from multiple locations and devices, traditional security measures are no longer enough. The user has become the frontline of cybersecurity, and without proactive protection, the risks to businesses can be severe.

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The expanding threat landscape

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The distributed workforce is a boon to cybercriminals, and they’re not hesitating to take advantage of it by evolving their techniques, tactics and procedures to launch attacks that are more targeted, sophisticated and persistent than they’ve been in the past. These attacks are designed to exploit the weakest link in the security chain: humans. Once a user is compromised, attackers can move quickly to take hostile actions like stealing credentials, deploying ransomware or launching lateral attacks to access sensitive systems. Without swift detection and response capabilities, a single user error can snowball into a full-blown – and damaging – cybersecurity incident. 

Businesses are facing a never-ending flood of cyberthreats every day, and half of them are related to phishing. This tactic alone affected 50% of businesses in the past year, according to the Kaseya Cybersecurity Survey Report 2024. Sophisticated phishing attacks that use devious social engineering tactics are often the cybercriminals’ opening gambit, paving the way for another cyberattack like business email compromise (BEC). The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2023 Internet Crime Report revealed that reported BEC scams exceeded $55 million in losses, a 22% increase over the prior year.

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Social engineering is ramping up

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Today’s most expensive cyberthreats increasingly rely on cyberattacks that employ social engineering techniques that target an organization’s people, not just its systems. Bad actors work to trick employees into making mistakes like clicking a phishing link or misdirecting sensitive data. Nearly 45% of IT professionals cited unsafe user practices or gullibility as a top security challenge in 2024. Without proper protection and training, end users can be frighteningly easy targets for clever attackers.

Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) underscores this critical truth: Your people are your greatest vulnerability. According to the report, nearly 70% of security incidents stem from non-malicious but harmful human actions. That category includes everything from misdelivered emails and misconfigurations to falling for phishing lures or failing to follow security protocols. No company can afford to leave this dangerous vulnerability open. Organizations must take action to protect both their users and this data.

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Why human error remains the top risk

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These examples of attacks that exploit human weaknesses illustrate just how devious cybercriminals can be when employing social engineering tactics to lure employees into taking actions that further their schemes.

• A March 2024 business email compromise attack cost the City of Baltimore, Maryland over $1.5 million. The cybercriminal spent time building a rapport with city departments throughout the fall of 2024, then leveraged publicly available information to impersonate an employee of one of the city’s vendors. The cybercriminal fooled a city worker into changing the impersonated vendor’s banking details, enabling the bad guys to successfully defraud the city.  
• In April 2024, a cybercriminal group known as Storm-1811 used Windows Quick Assist and vishing tactics to impersonate IT staff and trick users into granting remote access. Once inside, they deployed Black Basta ransomware, stole data and moved laterally through victim networks.
• In another high-profile case, U.S.-based cybersecurity firm DarkBeam suffered a breach in September 2023 when an unprotected interface exposed over 3.8 billion records. This breach highlights how configuration errors often made by users or overlooked during system setup can open the door to massive data loss.

These attacks highlight the creativity and cunning of cybercriminals in tricking users. The takeaway is clear: You can’t afford to leave users unprotected.

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The true cost of a breach

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The financial impact of a user-based security breach that ends in a cyberattack can be staggering. In BEC scams alone, the average requested transfer is $84,059. But that’s just the beginning. The indirect costs of a breach multiply the fallout. A company’s brand, reputation and financial success can take years to rebuild after a publicized incident. Here are some examples of the indirect costs that businesses may pay after this type of cyberattack:

• Downtime can cost businesses thousands of dollars per hour.
• Compliance violations can result in steep fines under HIPAA, GDPR or other data protection laws.
• Lost trust from customers and partners can severely damage future growth and retention.
• Legal fees associated with responding to a breach, including potential lawsuits.
• Reputational damage that impacts customer acquisition and brand loyalty.

All of this reinforces one truth: User protection is not optional; it’s mission-critical.

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You can’t afford to leave users unprotected

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Technical defenses like firewalls and antivirus alone aren’t enough. They can’t stop users from buying into social engineering tricks, reusing compromised passwords or falling for scams. To reduce risk, organizations must adopt comprehensive user protection strategies, combining threat detection, automated response and security awareness training to proactively limit human-related risk.

User-focused security is essential not just for defense but for long-term resilience and ultimately business success. By carefully planning and thoughtfully implementing a strong user protection strategy that includes state-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions, businesses can bolster their security and minimize their exposure to user-based cyberthreats.  

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Enter Kaseya 365 User: End-to-end user protection

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Kaseya 365 User is a user-first cybersecurity subscription that delivers comprehensive, multi-layered protection across the modern attack surface. Unlike traditional endpoint solutions, it goes beyond the device, securing users wherever they work and simplifying security management for IT teams.

In a world where users are both a top target and a critical line of defense, protecting them is the key to mounting a strong defense against cybercrime. Learn more about the business benefits of Kaseya 365 User in our eBook Kaseya 365 User Business Case: Redefining User Protection for the Modern Workforce

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