Cyber Crime is on a rampant rise. Take the example of the recent cyber attacks on the UK's largest retailers and even French fashion house Dior. Phishing and Social Engineering played a huge part in these attacks, once again reiterating that it's the human element that's often the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain.
As companies become more digital, the threat of cyber attacks continues to grow. In 2023 alone, Visa blocked 80 million fraud attempts worth $40 billion — a reminder of just how serious these threats can be. But the real vulnerability isn’t just in the systems — it can also be in people. According to IBM, 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error, and a Verizon report found that 74% of breaches involve the human element. So, how can businesses strengthen this critical weak point?
That’s where Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) comes in. By outsourcing HR functions, companies gain access to expert strategies that help train, manage, and protect their people, reducing risk and improving overall cyber-resilience. HRO plays a key role in building a safer digital future by focusing on the human side of cybersecurity.
Cyber-resilience is a company’s ability to protect itself from cyber attacks, keep its operations running smoothly, and quickly recover if an attack happens. As businesses increasingly depend on technology to grow, cyber-resilience becomes essential during digital transformation. Without strong cybersecurity, a company risks long-term disruptions.
When a business undergoes transformation, it must rethink how it uses cloud services, data analytics, and automation. Because these changes depend heavily on technology, companies need to build proactive cybersecurity measures into their systems right from the start. With proper protections against cyber threats, organisations can move forward confidently, ensuring their transformation efforts continue without interruption, even when facing cyber attacks.
Outsourcing certain business functions comes with a myriad of advantages, making it easier for some companies to achieve specific goals like cyber-resilience. What is HRO? Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) is a model where businesses assign their HR responsibilities to specialised service providers. Such providers have professional knowledge on how to help a business deal with the risks brought about by cybersecurity. HRO helps a business deal with basic cybersecurity challenges through the management of employees while also ensuring that employees are educated on mitigating cyber threats.
To put it simply, HRO is the delegating of specialised HR functions to outside experts who can guarantee that every employee knows how to avert basic cyber threats. With rapid changes in cybersecurity, outsourcing HR services allows businesses to better prepare their workforce, training them to respond timely and appropriately to threats. By shielding the human issues such as unsophisticated employees who are not educated on cybersecurity guidelines, business risk is greatly minimised.
To build a cyber-resilient workforce, companies need to implement particular HRO policies that embed cybersecurity into the human resources processes. These approaches help the workforce to be continuously aware, ready, and able to respond to potential cyber threats.
Recruitment of people with the right skills and understanding of cybersecurity is vital. HRO providers with specialized skills will help businesses acquire people who appreciate the relevance of their roles and are security-conscious enough to help protect the company’s resources.
Regular cybersecurity training helps employees keep up with the latest developments. While customised courses and certifications are usually provided by specialized cybersecurity or corporate training companies, not traditional HRO vendors, ongoing education builds employees’ confidence to protect company data and reduce cyber risks.
Continuous education and cybersecurity training keeps employees informed about new threats and best practices. Offering refresher sessions and updates helps maintain strong security habits and lowers the risk of cyber attacks.
Businesses should create and maintain a robust set of cybersecurity policies that are communicated to employees regularly. HRO providers assist in ensuring that these policies are clear, accessible, and continuously reviewed to address evolving cyber risks.
As companies embrace remote work, HROs help implement consistent hiring, onboarding, and HR compliance processes across distributed teams, aligning them with company-wide cybersecurity and device policies.
By offloading HR processes to a trusted provider, internal teams can focus more resources on technical defenses and risk monitoring, while still maintaining strong oversight of the human side of security.
Top HR outsourcing companies play an important role in supporting businesses as they implement and maintain cybersecurity practices. While they do not typically manage cybersecurity training, perform compliance assessments, or develop detailed security policies themselves, they help coordinate these efforts by facilitating communication between HR, IT/security teams, and external cybersecurity specialists. This support ensures that cybersecurity responsibilities are integrated smoothly within the organization’s workforce management.
Outsourcing HR functions related to cybersecurity allows businesses to focus on their core operations while leaving the complexities of security training and implementation to the experts. By working closely with external HRO providers, businesses can ensure that cybersecurity is integrated seamlessly into their overall HR and operational practices. HRO providers also assist in conducting risk assessments, ensuring compliance with regulations, and offering guidance on best practices for securing the human element.
Outsourcing HR functions associated with cybersecurity enables the organisation to focus on productivity while contracted personnel take care of the details of training. Coordinating closely with HROs enables the responsible executives to integrate the security measures into the HR policies and operational activities. An HRO assists the business in performing risk analysis, verifying compliance with set regulations, and providing recommendations to optimize best practice defences.
Adopting HRO strategies to support cyber-resilience offers numerous benefits to businesses, including:
HROs help enforce consistent onboarding, training, and policy communication, reducing mistakes like weak passwords, accidental data sharing, or mishandling sensitive information, which are leading causes of breaches.
Organisations can build a more proactive workforce by making cybersecurity education a regular part of their operations. Employees who understand how to identify and respond to threats are less likely to become easy targets for cybercriminals and more likely to contribute to a secure work environment.
Outsourcing HR functions aids companies in avoiding the costs associated with establishing and sustaining in-house security personnel. Moreover, reducing security breaches through effective employee training and awareness can lower the costs of data recovery, litigation, and regulatory fines. By comparing in-house expenses with HR outsourcing costs, businesses can better assess the financial benefits of external HR support.
When an HRO provider offers flexible training, recruitment, and workforce management systems, businesses can scale their cybersecurity awareness efforts as they grow. This adaptability ensures that a company’s expanding workforce remains aligned with its evolving cyber-resilience goals.
While Human Resource Outsourcing providers aren’t cybersecurity experts, they play a vital role in strengthening the human layer of defence. By standardising HR processes, supporting policy enforcement, and coordinating compliance-related training, HROs help create a workforce that’s more aware, accountable, and prepared. As cyber threats continue to evolve, organisations that align their HR strategy with broader security goals will be better equipped to prevent disruptions and recover quickly when challenges arise.
Author’s Name: Yaryna Kobryn
Bio: A skilled writer with over 8 years of experience, Yaryna specializes in producing clear, engaging content that demystifies global employment and EOR solutions. Her expertise helps businesses navigate the complexities of expanding remote teams. With a strong background in working alongside product and software development teams, Yaryna brings a tech-savvy perspective to her writing, delivering insightful, in-depth analysis for her readers.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaryna-kobryn-667309364/