Where Cyber Security Culture Goes Wrong: NCSC Warning Signs in Real Organizations

If you read the NCSC’s cyber security culture guidance, it’s full of positive end-states:

• security as an enabler,

• open and trusting reporting,

• leaders modeling the right behaviors,

• clear, usable rules.

Awesome. But the reality in most organizations?

The truth is, when measuring culture and working with global organization across every industry, we often see the opposite long before a serious incident. NCSC is explicit that poor security outcomes are often symptoms of deeper cultural problems, not just “user error” or “one-off tech glitches.” ^{Industrial Cyber}

This article looks at:

• The warning signs that your cyber culture is going wrong

• How those signs map to the NCSC culture principles and the culture iceberg

• Real-world scenarios that show how trouble starts

• What to watch in your data and day-to-day behavior

Think of this as your “red flag checklist” for the human side of cyber, grounded in NCSC’s view and extended with our HumanOS, cyber safety & digital risk culture model, and organizational dynamics model.

The Culture Iceberg: Where the Cracks Really Start

NCSC uses the Cyber Security Culture Iceberg to show that what you can see (training, policies, campaigns) is just the tip; the real drivers of behavior sit below the waterline: attitudes, expectations, social norms, leadership signals, and the usability of rules. ^NCSC

At Cybermaniacs, we break that submerged layer into three interacting pieces:

• HumanOS – the human operating system: habits, attention, emotions, biases, energy, fear, curiosity.

• Cyber Safety & Digital Risk culture model – how you actually do security: how work is designed, how decisions get made, how incidents are handled, and how “secure ways of working” show up in real workflows.

• Organizational dynamics model – who you are as an organization: structures, power and politics, history, incentives, leadership style, and values.

When security culture goes wrong, it’s usually because one or more of these layers is misaligned with what your controls assume people will do.

Warning Signs at a Glance

If any of these feel familiar, your cyber culture is likely in trouble:

• People hide mistakes or only report incidents when they’re already out of control.

• Security is seen as the department of “no”, not as a partner.

• Workarounds are so common they’re basically the real process.

• Training completion is high… but behaviors in the wild don’t change.

• Leaders talk a good game about security but ignore controls when it’s inconvenient.

• Policies are long, confusing, and regularly ignored or circumvented.

• Security teams feel like they’re constantly firefighting the same patterns.

Let’s break this down through each NCSC principle and our Cybermaniacs view of an Empowered Security Culture

1. When “Security as an Enabler” Goes Wrong

NCSC Principle: Frame cyber security as an enabler that supports the organization’s goals, not just a blocker or compliance tick-box. ^{Industrial Cyber}

Warning signs

• Security is brought in late to projects, purely to sign off or say no.

• Product / business teams routinely describe security as “the bottleneck.”

• Shadow IT and unsanctioned tools are everywhere because the official path is too slow or unclear.

• Business leaders bypass security processes “just this once” to hit deadlines.

Real-world scenario

A commercial team needs a new SaaS tool for client collaboration. Security only hears about it one week before launch, insists on full review and extra controls, and the team:

• spins up a free version with customer data anyway, or

• shares sensitive files via personal accounts instead.

On paper, your controls look strong. In practice, the HumanOS + culture model + org dynamics combo is generating risk:

• HumanOS: people are under time pressure, optimizing for speed.

• Culture model: the “real way” to get work done is to bypass security.

• Org dynamics: the business is rewarded for revenue and speed, security is seen as a cost.

2. When Trust and Openness Break Down

NCSC Principle: Build safety, trust, and processes that encourage openness around security issues.

Warning signs

• Staff admit, off the record, that they would avoid reporting a mistake if they could.

• Most incidents are discovered through audit, tech logs, or customers – not self-reporting.

• People talk about “getting in trouble” with security, not “getting help.”

• Incident reviews focus on who is to blame, rather than what the system made easy or hard.

Real-world scenario

Someone in finance clicks a convincing invoice phishing email and enters credentials. They realize a few minutes later something felt off… but:

• they’re afraid of repercussions,

• they’ve seen colleagues criticized for mistakes, or

• they think “IT will catch it anyway.”

By the time security spots unusual activity, the attacker has established access.

Under the iceberg:

• HumanOS: fear, shame, and self-protection dominate.

• Culture model: incident handling feels punitive, not learning-focused.

• Org dynamics: leadership language around “zero tolerance” sounds good on slides but kills psychological safety.

3. When Adapt and Learn Becomes “Copy-Paste Last Year”

NCSC Principle: Embrace change to manage new threats and improve resilience; treat incidents and change as opportunities to learn.

Warning signs

• Training content looks identical year after year, despite new threats (GenAI scams, deepfakes, shadow AI tools). 

• Incident reviews are done for compliance, then filed away—no visible changes follow.

• Staff roll their eyes at “yet another awareness course” that feels disconnected from real work.

• Teams quietly create their own unofficial guidance because the official stuff doesn’t keep up.

Real-world scenario

GenAI tools start popping up across the business. Instead of a fast, clear stance on how to use AI safely, people get:

• silence,

• a generic “don’t paste sensitive data into the internet” email months later, or

• a total ban that’s easily ignored.

People turn to internet forums and colleagues for “how to prompt” and ignore official messaging.

Below the waterline:

• HumanOS: curiosity, convenience, and “everyone else is doing it” win.

• Culture model: there’s no visible learning loop from change or incidents.

• Org dynamics: governance is slow, risk committees are reactive, and frontline teams feel like “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”

4. When Social Norms Reward the Wrong Behaviors

NCSC Principle: Social norms in the organization should promote secure behaviors; understanding norms helps you fix misalignments. ^NCSC

Warning signs

• People brag about bypassing security (“We all share that account; it’s faster.”).

• The “cool kids” ignore controls and are still seen as high performers.

• Colleagues roll their eyes when someone double-checks a suspicious request.

• Teams joke that security training is something to game, not something to learn from.

Real-world scenario

  A support team is under intense time pressure. To hit targets, they: reuse credentials, disable MFA on shared devices, or forward customer data to personal accounts to “work from home more easily.”

Nobody says “this is okay” officially, but: managers quietly condone it (“just hit your numbers”), peers encourage shortcuts, security is viewed as “out of touch with reality.”

Our Human + culture + dynamics interpretation:

• HumanOS: people want to belong and be seen as efficient, not “difficult.”

• Culture model: productivity is valued over secure process; norms form around that.

• Org dynamics: performance metrics and incentives are misaligned with security goals.

5. When Leadership Ownership is Missing or Hypocritical

NCSC Principle: Leaders take responsibility for the impact they have on security culture; they model secure behaviors and align security with business priorities.

Warning signs

• Senior leaders routinely skip mandatory training or ask for exceptions to controls.

• Projects with major cyber implications are approved without serious security input.

• Security culture never appears on leadership or board agendas—only tech risk and compliance.

• Staff hear mixed messages: “Security is critical… but just get this out the door.”

Real-world scenario

  A major product launch is behind schedule. Security raises concerns about some unresolved vulnerabilities and missing fraud controls. Leadership says:

“We’ll fix it in the next phase—right now, we just need to ship.”

Teams learn the real rule: speed beats security when it really counts.

Under the surface:

• HumanOS: staff pick up strong implicit cues—what leaders do matters more than what they say.

• Culture model: “secure behavior” is optional under pressure.

• Org dynamics: power sits with revenue and product; security is advisory at best.

6. When Rules and Guidance Are Unusable

NCSC Principle: Provide well-maintained cyber security rules and guidelines that are accessible and easy to understand, with enough flexibility to fit real work. ^NCSC

Warning signs

• Policies live in long PDFs nobody reads or can find.

• When you ask people what they should do in common scenarios, answers vary wildly.

• People create unofficial “cheat sheets” because the real guidance is unusable.

• Security processes are so slow or confusing that teams quietly invent workarounds.

Real-world scenario

 A new joiner wants to know:

“Can I use my personal cloud storage to move large files while traveling?”

They’re faced with: a 30-page policy dense with legal language, conflicting instructions from colleagues, and an access request process that takes weeks. So they: ask around, follow whatever the “most experienced colleague” does, or default to non-compliant tools.

Below the iceberg:

• HumanOS: time scarcity and cognitive overload steer decisions.

• Culture model: the secure path is obviously harder than the insecure one.

• Org dynamics: policy ownership is fragmented; no one is accountable for usability.

Data-Based Red Flags: When Metrics Should Make You Nervous

Some warning signs can show up in your numbers before anyone says a word.

Watch for combinations like:

• High training completion + flat or worsening incident patterns
  → suggests awareness is not translating into behavior change.

• Low or declining near-miss reporting
  → especially worrying if tech logs show plenty of risky activity.

• Huge gaps between business units
  → one area with strong engagement and reporting, others with almost none.

• Consistent late security engagement in projects
  → security sign-off is happening weeks before go-live, not at design.

• Frequent control exceptions for senior roles
  → a structural signal that security is not truly “for everyone.”

NCSC guidance, as well as our own advice: sustaining cyber culture requires ongoing feedback loops and updates, not a one-off push.

If your feedback is weak or ignored, culture will quietly drift in the wrong direction.

How to Use These Warning Signs (Without Panicking)

This isn’t about naming and shaming. It’s about diagnostic clarity. Here’s how to use the NCSC lens + these warning signs constructively:

1. Pick one incident and map it to the principles

Take a recent breach, near miss, or ugly workaround and ask:

• Which NCSC principles were strong?

• Which were weak or missing?

• What did HumanOS, your “how we do security” model, and your org dynamics actually make easy or hard?

You’ll almost always find it’s not about “careless people.” It’s about a system that produced the behavior.

2. Use the red flags to focus your roadmap

If you see:

• fear and silence → focus on Trust & Openness (P2)

• leadership hypocrisy → focus on Leadership Ownership (P5)

• widespread workarounds → focus on Usable Rules (P6) and Social Norms (P4)

You don’t have to fix everything at once; you do need to choose where to start.

3. Turn a warning sign into a specific experiment

For each red flag you pick, design one small, concrete experiment. For example:

•  Red flag: people hide mistakes
  → Experiment: change incident comms to emphasize learning and track changes in near-miss reporting.

•  Red flag: policies are ignored
  → Experiment: redesign one policy as a short playbook and see if usage and compliance improve.

•  Red flag: security is “the blocker”
  → Experiment: create a simple “engage security early” consultation and measure how often projects use it.

How Cybermaniacs Helps When Things Are Already Going Wrong

If you’re reading this thinking “yep, that’s us,” you’re not alone. Good news, we're here to help. Most of our work starts with organizations that:

• have controls and content,

• can talk about NCSC principles,

• but keep seeing the same human and cultural patterns show up in incidents.

We typically help by:

• Diagnosing

  • Running a HumanOS + culture + org dynamics baseline explicitly mapped to NCSC principles and the culture iceberg.

• Making sense of the warning signs

  • Turning scattered signals (incidents, surveys, grumbling) into a coherent picture.

• Designing targeted interventions

  • Creative campaigns, process fixes, leadership experiences, and measurement tied directly to your biggest cultural gaps.

• Helping you tell the story

  • So CISOs, boards, and regulators can see you are treating undesireable outcomes as culture signals, not just user mistakes.

Key Takeaways

• NCSC’s cyber security culture principles don’t just describe what “good” looks like; they also hint at what bad looks like when principles are weak or missing. 

• Warning signs include:

  • security as the blocker,

  • hidden mistakes,

  • copy-paste training with no learning,

  • unhealthy social norms,

  • leadership hypocrisy,

  • unusable rules and processes.

• Those red flags live mostly below the iceberg: in HumanOS, how you “do” security, and your deeper organizational dynamics.

• The point is not to panic or blame; it’s to use these signs as early indicators and design better systems, not just better slogans.