What enterprises should do when helpless employees lose hope in fighting cyber attacks

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.csoonline.com/article/2926718/security-awareness/what-enterprise-should-do-when-helpless-employees-lose-hope-in-fighting-cyber-attacks.html

By David Geer
CSO
May 28, 2015

Hit too many times with successful attacks and compromises, an 
enterprise’s human resources can develop a victim mentality, a.k.a. 
learned helplessness. When this happens, employees who feel they are 
helpless to do anything effective to fight cyber attacks lose hope.

CSO looks at the symptoms of the victim mentality in the enterprise, how 
it comes about, and what enterprises can do technically and 
psychologically to avoid it.


The victim mentality and its symptoms

In the field of psychology, professionals also refer to the victim 
mentality as learned helplessness. “Learned Helplessness is a pattern of 
behaviors that develop in people when they are in a situation where they 
feel they have no power or control and they essentially give up,” says 
Steven Salmi, PhD, LP, President and CEO, Corporate Psychologists.

Learned helplessness can surface in the corporate world where constant and 
extreme information security threats flourish. “If people feel stuck in a 
situation where no available choice will get them out of it, they can 
start to shut down,” says Salmi.

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