Human Firewall Meaning: Importance in Cyber Security

Last Updated on 6 months by Touhid

A human firewall meaning is a group of people in an organization who protect the computer system from cyber threats. In this post, we will discuss the human firewall meaning, its importance, and how to develop a human firewall to ensure your cyber security.

What is a Firewall?

Before discussing human firewall meaning in cyber security, we’ll give you a basic idea about the firewall.

Generally, a firewall is a cyber security device that is designed to observe incoming and outgoing traffic based on a supported predefined set of rules. The main aim of a firewall is to create an obstacle between a trusted internal network and an untrusted external network to ensure data security.

A firewall is a first-line defense against cyber threats such as malware and viruses, and it can reduce cyber-attacks on your computer network.

Typically, there are three types of firewalls such as software firewalls, hardware firewalls, or both. The best practice is to install both firewalls in order to achieve the maximum possible protection. Each type of firewall is used for the same purposes, but they have technically different functionality.

Examples of the most popular Next-Generation Firewalls are Cisco, Fortinet, Barracuda, Sophos, and Juniper. If you are on a home network then you can use Windows Firewall.

Tips to turn on Windows Firewall:

• Start→ Control Panel→ System and Security→ Windows Firewall.
• Click the Turn Windows Firewall On or off link in the left pane of the window.
• Select the Turn on Windows Firewall radio button for one or both of the network locations.
• And Click OK.

Human Firewall Meaning in Security

What does a human firewall mean? The meaning of a human firewall is not a single person; it is a group of people in an organization who act as a human layer of protection. Human firewalls have the capability to find out the vulnerabilities of a system and they are educated, aware of cyber security, and know social engineering attacks. So, they can protect the system as well as ensure the cyber security of an organization.

We know that the firewall is a security device that protects the system from cyber-attacks. The human firewall does exactly this, but employees act as a firewall. A human firewall ensures that the data has not been breached or compromised.

The key point of the human firewall is as follows:

• A group of cyber awareness people.
• Capability to identify the weakness of a system.
• Knows the cyber threats such as phishing, and malware.
• Strengthen the technical skill of the human firewall.
• Update about the latest security threats.

A human firewall meaning protects against different types of cyber security threats such as phishing emails, malware, and phone scams. Most cyber-attackers send phishing emails to employees because the emails look legitimate, and it seem to come from a reputable organization.

The attackers also send a malicious code or file with an email attachment, when downloading the file the malware may install on the computer without the employee’s conscious.

Human firewalls should always be aware of phishing emails (such as email phishing, spear phishing, and whaling attacks), and also should know how to avoid phishing emails. In that case, if the employees of an organization are well-trained and aware of these types of cyber threats, they will take necessary action to stop them.

Why Human Firewall is Important?

It is very much required a human firewall of an organization because they will secure your computer system and network. Human firewalls can protect data from cyber-attacks and ensure that the data will not be lost. Employees play a significant role in securing a business operation because they have permission to access sensitive data.

They have the ability to accurately identify the security risks or weaknesses of an application and can report to the higher authority or security team to solve the problems. So, the business will run smoothly and decrease the chance of a business falling by cyber-attacks.

When a new system has been installed and there may be security holes or vulnerabilities, and there is a chance of a zero-day attack. In that case, the employees will act as a firewall to detect security holes and will take necessary action to prevent cyber hackers.

Finally, it is very much urgent to arrange a cyber-awareness program and train all employees on how to access sensitive data and ensure cyber security efficiently. An educated human firewall meaning helps strengthen your security system.

How to Build an Excellent Human Firewall?

Already we have defined the meaning of human firewall and its importance of an organization.

An educated and strong human firewall is the first-line defense to protect a system. It is observed that many organizations spend huge amounts of money to purchase cyber security tools but are not conscious of their employee’s security awareness.

There are different ways that data can be breached; human error is one of the major reasons. Is there a human firewall in your organization? If not, then immediately train the employees and prepare a security policy for strengthening your human firewall.

Here, we’ve suggested some important tips on how to build a strong human firewall.

• Create a Cyber Security Policy and Team
• Educate Your Employees
• Cyber Awareness Program
• Keep Human Firewall Engaged
• Use Cyber Security Tools
• Keep Updated about the Latest Security Threats
• Reward and Incentive to Human Firewall

Create a Cyber Security Policy and Team

The first step is to create a strong cyber-security policy to build a strong and successful human firewall in your organization. The security policy may include clear instructions on who can access a system, the responsibilities of authorized users, data access levels, system recovery, and protection.

The policies should cover topics related to cyber threats and security, such as email security, social engineering attacks, password policies, and phishing scams. All the employees should follow the instructions of the security policy.

You have to prepare a cyber-security team; the team member should have the proper skills and experience to protect your organization from cyber-attacks.

Educate Your Employees

We all know “education is the backbone of a nation”. So, education is the key factor and foundation of the human firewall. If your organization handles sensitive data, then it is required to ensure that your employees are educated. Employees must have the proper skills to detect potential cyber-attacks.

Cyber Awareness Program

This is another important tip for developing a strong human firewall. Therefore, arrange a cyber-security awareness program to empower your employees. The training program may include how to identify the weaknesses of a system, detect cyber threats, and how to handle or protect from cyber-attacks.

The awareness program should cover security threats such as phishing scams, social engineering attacks, device security, password security, and physical security. The training program should be organized on a regular basis and keep aware of the latest security threats.

Keep Human Firewall Engaged

This is a very interesting tip to keep employees engaged in previous attacks on a business, or a real-time cyber-attack, such as conducting phishing tests. Phishing attacks are the most common attacks in the cyber world. The phishing test will help to check if employees are properly trained or aware and how to protect themselves from phishing attacks.

Use Cyber Security Tools

If you have no cyber security tools in your data center or server room, then you should immediately purchase and install the security tools and devices. There are different types of cyber security tools such as antivirus software, encryption tool, network monitoring device, and web vulnerability scanning tools.

After completion of security training, human firewalls use these tools to fight against cyber threats and they should be experts in using these tools.

Keep Updated about the Latest Security Threats

Cyber attackers have technical skills and are very much smart at new technology. They are changing their attacking technique to compromise your data. That’s why it is very much required to keep employees updated about their attacking techniques.

Employees should know the latest cyber security threats and phishing emails. They can get updates or information from online forums, newsletters, and websites; so, they can strengthen the human firewall.

It is also suggested, that creating a strong cyber security culture that will help to share regular security updates, malware attacks, and conduct phishing attacks may stay updated.

Reward and Incentive to Human Firewall

This is the last step in building a strong human firewall. You can encourage and reward your employees for the successful completion of training, cyber awareness, and participation in the human firewall to protect your system.

The incentive doesn’t have to be a huge amount of money; it can be part of the monthly salary, or it can be prizes or other awards. So, that can encourage employees to stay committed and do a good job as a human firewall to protect the system.

Threats to Human Firewall in Security

Threats to human firewall meaning that a human firewall can be affected by different types of cyber threats such as phishing attacks, malware, human error, and untrained employees.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack that can impact the human firewall to gain sensitive information. The phishing attack can happen in different ways, such as by sending an email to the victim. A phishing email may contain a malicious URL link and if you click on the link then you are redirected to a vulnerable website.

Learn more about Phishing Attacks.

Malware Attacks

Malware is malicious and harmful software that has been designed to damage, disable, or gain unlawful access to a computer system without your consent. The malicious software can be installed through fraudulent email attachments, URLs, USB devices, social media platforms, and vulnerable websites.

Human Error

The main cyber threat to human firewalls is human error. Phishing attacks and social engineering attacks are common attacks that are used by cyber hackers to exploit human error. Human errors can happen to employees such as lack of cyber awareness, untrained employees, no idea about phishing attacks, and careless employees.

Conclusion

Finally, a strong human firewall is a cyber-awareness group of employees within an organization who can identify threats as well as stop data breaches. If you have no human firewall, then you may start to build a human firewall today! Although it is very difficult to build a successful human firewall.

However, you have to select the right employees, train them in cyber security, and keep engaging them in security testing to create a strong human firewall. The steps we have mentioned will help you to get started developing a human firewall.

In this post, we’ve discussed the human firewall meaning, elements of the human firewall, and threats of the human firewall; hope the article will be helpful for you.