What is Human Risk Management and Why Security Teams Struggle to Scale

Security teams everywhere are feeling it: too much to do, too few people to do it, and mounting pressure to "solve the human problem" once and for all. But the truth is, human risk isn’t a simple awareness issue. It’s a complex, evolving challenge that requires a different kind of thinking, tooling, and support to tackle effectively.

Welcome to the era of Human Risk Management (HRM).

What is Human Risk Management?

Human Risk Management is a strategic approach to identifying, understanding, and reducing cybersecurity risk caused by human behaviors, decisions, and vulnerabilities. Unlike traditional cyber awareness programs that focus on pushing content or checking training boxes, HRM programs aim to:

• Map risk across different roles and behaviors

• Build secure habits and decision-making patterns

• Create resilient cultures that respond to risk, not just recognize it

HRM bridges gaps between cybersecurity, operations, behavior science, and business leadership. It expands the view from "awareness training" to full-spectrum risk reduction.

The Shift: From Awareness to Human Risk Management

Many organizations still rely heavily on legacy cyber awareness programs. You know the ones: an annual training course, a few emails about phishing, and maybe a poster in the breakroom.

But today’s threat landscape is not static. It evolves faster than most awareness efforts can keep up. AI-generated phishing, deepfake manipulation, insider threats, and cognitive overload make it harder than ever for people to "do the right thing."

That's why leading organizations are making the shift:

• From content to context: Tailoring programs to roles, behaviors, and business realities

• From training to tooling: Leveraging measurement, micro-interventions, and nudges

• From awareness to ownership: Empowering teams to engage with security meaningfully

In short, they’re scaling from cyber awareness programs to full Human Risk Management programs.

Why Teams Struggle to Scale Human Risk Programs

So if HRM is the better way forward—why are so many teams stuck?

The SANS 2025 Security Awareness Report found that over 70% of awareness professionals lack the time, budget, or headcount to meaningfully evolve their programs. Security leaders are often spread thin, balancing compliance, training, reporting, and reactive incident support.

Here are three major blockers to scaling:

1. No clear framework: Many teams are reinventing the wheel. Without a tested framework for program maturity, teams can’t benchmark or scale efforts effectively.

2. Overloaded teams: Security staff are often pulled in too many directions. HRM requires continuous effort, creativity, and care—not just quarterly training pushes.

3. Tool and data gaps: It’s hard to manage what you can’t measure. Many orgs lack tools to track behavior change, risk trends, or cultural signals.

The result? Programs plateau, risk increases, and security leaders feel like they’re failing—even when they’re doing everything they can.

What It Takes to Move From Awareness to HRM

Scaling a Human Risk Management Program isn’t about doing more with what you have. It’s about doing it differently.

That might mean:

• Partnering with managed service providers who specialize in HRM

• Moving beyond phishing simulations to full behavior and culture campaigns

• Using real-time measurement to drive interventions and show progress

• Aligning awareness efforts with board-level risk priorities

And most importantly—giving security teams the scaffolding, structure, and support to actually scale, instead of burning out.

Want to know what it would take to scale your program?

Follow us on LinkedIn for more leadership-focused blogs, or talk to our team—we don’t bite.

(And yes, we build scaffolding for programs that actually scale.)

TL;DR

• Human Risk Management (HRM) is a modern approach to reducing cyber risk caused by people

• HRM programs go beyond training—they measure, adapt, and scale behavior and culture

• Most teams struggle to scale due to resource constraints, lack of frameworks, and tooling gaps

• Moving from awareness to HRM requires new thinking, managed support, and behavioral insight