Fujitsu Ltd and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd have announced the development of the industry’s first technology for identifying users vulnerable to cyberattacks based on the ways they use their computers, such as their e-mail and web activities. This will make it possible to implement security measures tailored to individuals and organizations.

While there are numerous security measures already in existence, the weakness that most cyberattacks and data breaches take advantage of is human error, such as, for example, when a user carelessly clicks on a malicious link in a faked e-mail message. Because this depends on individual traits, it is difficult to develop a standardized security measure to defend against it.

Fujitsu and Fujitsu Laboratories used online questionnaires to identify the relationship between the psychological traits and behavior of people likely to suffer three kinds of attack: virus infections, scams, and data leakage. At the same time, based on activity logs on PCs, such as when the PCs freeze, they have developed a technology for calculating different users’ risks of being victimized.

This technology could be used to precisely tailor security measures, such as, for example, by displaying individualized warning messages to users who often click on URLs in suspicious e-mail messages without checking them carefully, or escalating the threat level of suspicious e-mails sent between departments with virus-prone users.