John Trest, Chief Learning Officer at the cyber firm VIPRE Security Group, pictured, says that physical security behaviours offer compelling parallels to digital safety.
Just as we instinctively look both ways before crossing the street or automatically buckle our seatbelts when in the car, cybersecurity behaviours can become equally intuitive through deliberate habit formation. While understanding and appreciating what constitutes good digital hygiene is important, the bigger challenge is transforming that information from conscious decisions and practices into automatic responses that protect us even when our attention is elsewhere.
Automatic reflexes are the unconscious competence we develop through repeated practice. When you type without looking at the keyboard and brake when a car suddenly cuts in front of you, you are demonstrating learned automatic behaviour. In cybersecurity, this means responding safely to digital situations through ingrained habit rather than conscious deliberation.
Consider an employee who unthinkingly hovers over email links to preview destinations before clicking. This individual has developed automatic cybersecurity reflexes. Similarly, someone who secures their workstation when leaving their desk isn’t weighing options, the behaviour has become instinctive. This approach works because habits are reliable. Threats are changing constantly, and people get tired, distracted, or even careless. But when security behaviours become automatic, they protect us even when we’re not paying full attention.
Automatic cyber reflexes
Strengthening automatic cybersecurity reflexes is like developing muscle memory – it’s about developing instinctive, repeatable responses to digital threats, so individuals can act swiftly and confidently under pressure. This requires consistent repetition and continuous reinforcement.
Here are some practical suggestions where individuals can intentionally develop strong security habits:
- Make password managers the default approach. Develop the automatic response of generating and storing new credentials through a manager rather than creating them yourself. Over time, using the manager will become as natural as reaching for your keys.
- Rather than seeing multi-factor authentication as a hindrance or annoyance, train yourself to expect verification steps as a normal part of accessing important accounts.
- Learn to pause before clicking on an email or link. Condition yourself to hover over links and examine sender details as a standard action when reading emails. Even a brief hesitation can reduce impulsive clicks.
Likewise, make independent email ID verification a default action – especially when an email requests an urgent response. Verify through other channels, be that separately calling or messaging a colleague, client or partner to confirm the call to action in the email. Through repetition, this verification becomes instinctive rather than cumbersome.
- Institute device protection. Whether using phones, laptops or computers, secure the screen every time you step away, regardless of the duration. It’s easy to set up automatic screen-locks on devices today.
- Software updates are a necessity and non-negotiable. Treat software update notifications as safety warnings.
- Imbibe automatic privacy filters to practice and strengthen mental checkpoints, instinctively questioning yourself: Should I share this information? How might it be misused? Similarly, develop permission-checking impulses. For instance, when sharing documents or downloading apps, practice pause to evaluate whether the action is truly necessary.
When it comes to cybersecurity, individual and organisational responsibility go hand-in-hand. Organisations have a crucial role in facilitating automatic cybersecurity responses. Positive reinforcement is essential for developing strong cybersecurity habits within any environment. By recognising and celebrating secure behaviors such as identifying phishing attempts, maintaining strong authentication practices, and following proper data protocols, individuals feel motivated to consistently repeat these protective actions. This approach creates a security-conscious mindset where such behaviours become not just expected but genuinely rewarding, making cybersecurity feel like personal competence rather than an obligation.
Protective habits
Workplaces that weave security practices into everyday workflows help employees develop and strengthen protective habits. For instance, default multi-factor authentication ensures regular practice, while integrating security warnings into email systems (“This message originated outside your organisation”) encourages habitual vigilance. Consistent demonstration of good security practices helps to establish behavioural norms across the business. When combined with automatic reflexes, these reinforced habits become deeply ingrained. Through regular practice sessions, realistic simulations, and hands-on exercises, employees learn to handle threats instinctively, without hesitation.
This combination of encouragement and embedded practice dramatically strengthens overall digital safety. When organisations design policies that work with human psychology rather than against them, they create environments where automatic cybersecurity responses can develop and flourish.
Long-term instincts
Developing automatic cybersecurity reflexes requires patience, practice and consistency, much like learning any complex physical skill. Athletes don’t stop practicing fundamentals once they become proficient, they continue reinforcing basic movements so they remain reliable under pressure. Similarly, cybersecurity habits need ongoing maintenance and conscious attention to prevent degradation.
The goal is creating a personal security posture that functions reliably across different contexts and stress levels. When secure behaviours become as automatic as looking both ways before crossing the street, individuals gain protection that persists even when facing sophisticated threats designed to exploit human error.
This approach recognises a fundamental truth about human nature: we cannot maintain constant vigilance. Our minds wander, we multitask, and we experience decision fatigue throughout the day. Rather than fighting these natural tendencies, we can work with them by establishing security behaviors that function independently of our conscious attention.
Current landscape
In evolving digital threats, developing these automatic security reflexes is essential for maintaining safety in an increasingly complex online environment. Through deliberate habit formation, positive reinforcement, and thoughtful environmental design, cybersecurity can transform from a burden into an intuitive capability that protects individuals and organisations naturally.
