Culture & Compliance Chronicles: The Human Factor—Psychology and Cybersecurity in the Digital Age with Sarah Zheng

Cybersecurity hinges on the human factor, where cognitive biases and emotional responses frequently override technical vigilance. Neuropsychologist Sarah Zheng, co-author of *The Psychology of Cybersecurity*, highlights that hackers often exploit social engineering techniques—such as urgency and context-based persuasion—to bypass security protocols. While financial gain drives many attacks, underlying psychological factors like boredom or a search for community often motivate younger hackers. Organizations frequently fail by relying on generic, annual compliance training that ignores these behavioral realities. Instead, implementing adversarial training, where employees learn to think like criminals, and fostering a blameless culture significantly improves resilience. By shifting focus from simple click rates to identifying malicious behaviors and establishing clear digital norms, organizations can better defend against sophisticated threats like deepfake-enabled fraud and AI-driven social engineering.