Securing the future: building a culture of security

According to a 2024 Verizon report, nearly 70% of data breaches occurred because a person was manipulated by social engineering or made some type of error. This highlights the importance of human-layer defenses in an organization’s security strategy. In addition to technology, tools, and processes, security requires awareness and action from everyone in an organization to recognize anomalies, escalate potential issues, and ultimately, mitigate risk.

Organizations that invest in a culture of security see better employee adoption of security controls, improved cybersecurity behavior, and a more effective use of cybersecurity resources, according to a 2024 Gartner analysis. This aligns with our own experience at AWS, where we deeply invest in our culture of security. Our leadership prioritizes security and builds it into our organizational structure. Everyone, regardless of role, views security as a shared responsibility. Security advocates and advisors are embedded in our teams to share their expertise, and innovation empowers our people to move fast while staying secure.

Building and maintaining a culture of security requires constant investment and focus. In our recent culture of security series with The Guardian, we share perspectives from AWS leaders on some of the most common questions that people ask us about how to create a culture of security:

• How can leaders create a security mindset in their organization?
• How can product leaders take more accountability for product security?
• How can I bridge the gap between software engineering and security?
• How can an organization equip its builders to build more secure products?

The journey to creating a culture of security begins with the first step. Although this journey looks different for every organization, sharing what we’ve learned may spur ideas for how you can help create a security-first mindset in your own team or organization.

We invite you to explore the series and learn more about how AWS sustains a strong culture of security.

 
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