Hiring Emotional Listeners could increase your company's Security

Hiring Emotional Listeners could increase your company’s Security

Artificial Intelligence has greatly increased the already very rapid evolution of automated work tools. But obviously, it does not only increase the development and advancement of ethical and legal work. Artificial Intelligence knows no ethics (this is another big topic but goes beyond the scope of this article), and in a great democratic boast, it helps everyone equally.

At the same time, cybersecurity is becoming more and more a part of the everyday lives of ordinary citizens. Unfortunately, we are getting used to receiving fraudulent e-mails, messages or calls: who has not received a message via WhatsApp in which the police explain or warn of a new trap related to a mobile phone alert that many people are falling for because it seems authentic or real? This is raising our alert levels, but it also makes it clear that cybercrime is a spider’s web that grows and grows… and it’s not going to get any smaller.

Cybersecurity professionals are in a tough race. The bad guys are often ahead of the good guys. Laws are often reactive. Law enforcement’s best teachers are always criminals. Moreover, we read everywhere how humans are the weakest link in the security chain because they are the easiest to attack. Nobody attacks the computer system of a country’s infrastructure anymore. But they will attack the employee of the company maintaining those infrastructures. It is much easier. IT teams cannot predict the reactions of human beings, the most unpredictable of living beings on the planet, because we do not function on instinct but on a wonderful thing called freedom.

Security departments in companies should start developing an Empathy and Common Sense Area. And it could be made up of psychologists, animators, philosophers and listeners… above all, good listeners.

I think that the big recruitments would be to hire grandmothers, those wonderful beings to whom it is easy to open their hearts. People who are intuitive, who are dedicated to registering in the corridors the “emotional temperature” of their employees.

What are the indicators of that Emotional Temperature? Well, think of your people. Who is going through a nightmare divorce, who has a baby at home and is getting little sleep, who has a sick parent or wife to take care of… That is what really affects our capacity for work, concentration and, therefore, personal alertness levels. It may seem to you – if you have a position of responsibility in your company – that this is all very nice, but it is too luxurious a bonus, and you can’t afford it. Well, that’s understandable. But you know what? Criminals do it. They are already doing it. The way to attack employees is through Social Engineering. And what does a Social Engineer do? Well, that is precisely what we’ve been talking about: listening and monitoring the emotional pulses of your employees. How? Quite simply. Following their social networks with a good “clinical eye”. If you follow someone consistently, you get to know their ups and downs, their hobbies and interests, their emotional ups and downs, their worries and their likes and dislikes quite well. We know who their friends are, their favourite places… It’s a matter of time, patience and attention. So, there comes the point when criminals know your employees much better than you do and know when they are in a moment of vulnerability. So, think about it. Maybe your cybersecurity budget needs to be geared towards something far beyond technology.

Do I open an emotional consulting room in the company? Do I have someone constantly walking around the different floors, “apparently” wasting time? And in case they detect the vulnerable, what is the solution? Do they sit next to them and read their emails and listen to their calls? Come on. Well, as we said at the beginning of this article, Artificial Intelligence is developing rapidly in the service of the bad guys and the good guys. Neuropsychology professionals are also active, and I am Sally has tools that are constantly evolving so that each of your employees has a personalized digital ally, according to their circumstances, character and personality, that assists and accompanies them on a daily basis. That, and constant adapted training. The key is personalized attention because every human being is a world. But always a wonderful world.

If you want us to tell you more, contact us, and we will tell you about our Academy and our Anti-Phishing squad. Have a nice day.

Image of Jon Tyson in Unsplash