Understanding the Distinction: Insider Risk Management vs. Human Risk Management

Why Your Organization Needs Both, But For Different Reasons

As organizations continue to invest in security solutions focused on human behavior, there's growing confusion between Insider Risk Management (IRM) and Human Risk Management (HRM). While both deal with human activities in security, they serve fundamentally different purposes and solve distinct challenges. Let's clear up the confusion and understand why many organizations need both solutions in their security stack.

The Core Difference: Intent and Purpose

Think of IRM as your security camera system - it's watching for specific suspicious activities and alerting when it spots potential threats. IRM solutions excel at this, monitoring for data theft, intellectual property loss, and other malicious insider activities. They're built for security operations teams who need to detect and investigate potential insider threats.

HRM, on the other hand, is more like your fitness tracker - it's measuring daily activities, encouraging better habits, and helping you improve over time. Solutions like Living Security focus on understanding and improving security behaviors across your entire workforce. They're designed for security leaders who want to reduce human risk through better security behaviors and culture.

Why This Distinction Matters

The confusion between these solutions often leads organizations to believe they can solve both challenges with a single tool. This is like trying to use your home security system to improve your physical fitness - they're related to overall wellbeing, but serve very different purposes.

IRM solutions are crucial for:

• Detecting potential data theft
• Monitoring privileged access abuse
• Investigating policy violations
• Preventing intellectual property loss
• Responding to insider threats

Meanwhile, HRM platforms focus on:

• Measuring and improving security behaviors
• Building risk-aware cultures
• Optimizing security awareness programs
• Managing human risk across the organization
• Enabling secure business operations

How They Work Together

Despite their differences, these solutions can work together beautifully in a comprehensive security program. Think of it this way: IRM is your detective force, while HRM is your proactive system. Both contribute to public safety, but through very different mechanisms.

For example, when an IRM solution detects an increase in risky file transfers, HRM can provide context about the user's security risk level, previous behaviors, and role-based risk profile. This combination helps security teams make better decisions about how to respond - whether through immediate intervention or longer-term behavior change programs.

The Business Impact

Organizations that understand and implement both solutions effectively often see powerful results:

• Reduced security incidents through both prevention and behavior improvement
• Better resource allocation by targeting both immediate threats and long-term risks
• Improved security culture while maintaining strong detective controls
• More comprehensive risk management through complementary approaches

Making the Right Choice

If you're evaluating these solutions, start by understanding your primary security challenges:

Are you primarily concerned about malicious insiders and data theft? An IRM solution might be your first priority.

Are you focused on improving security behaviors and reducing human risk across your organization? HRM might be your starting point.

In most cases, mature security programs will eventually need both capabilities - but understanding their distinct purposes helps you make better decisions about where to invest first.

Looking Ahead

As security continues to evolve, we'll likely see more integration between these solutions, but their core purposes will remain distinct. The key is understanding that managing insider threats and improving human risk are different challenges requiring different approaches.

The most successful organizations will be those that leverage both types of solutions effectively, using IRM to detect and respond to specific threats while employing HRM to identify and protect the workforce by creating lasting behavior change and cultural improvement.

The Bottom Line

Don't fall into the trap of thinking these solutions are interchangeable. Each serves a vital but different role in your security program. By understanding these differences, you can make better decisions about which solutions to implement and how to use them effectively together.

Remember: Security isn't just about preventing bad things from happening - it's also about enabling good security behaviors and building a strong security culture. You need both perspectives to create a truly resilient organization.

Getting Started with Human Risk Management

Does HRM sound like something worth exploring? Begin developing a management plan by downloading our whitepaper: Human Risk Management: Moving from Activities-Based to Outcomes-Based Cybersecurity Training.