World Mental Health Day: Digital fatigue linked to increased exposure to cyber risks

ISLAMABAD: While observing World Mental Health Day on October 10, a global cybersecurity company Kaspersky has warned of the relationship between digital fatigue and increased exposure to cyber risks.

According to a report issued on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, the cybersecurity company stated that “AI is also contributing to the rise of deepfakes – highly convincing audio or video content manipulated to deceive the recipient. When it comes to digital fatigue, these deepfakes can pose a serious risk in corporate settings, where cybercriminals may impersonate executives to authorise fraudulent transactions or gain access to sensitive information.

In today’s data-driven and digital business environment, office employees are bombarded with a constant feed of notifications, continuous digital interactions and the need to make huge amounts of decisions throughout the day. Even though advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are helping to improve efficiencies, workers are under significant strain.

This can result in digital fatigue that not only negatively impacts an employee’s well-being and productivity versus higher rates of burnout, but also risks opening the company to a range of cyberthreats, from phishing to deepfakes,” warns Kaspersky.

In fact, a research by Forbes Advisor shows that digital communications make 58 percent of employees feel like they need to be available more often. This results in 60 percent of the workforce feeling increased burnout. The constant need to stay online and multitask adds to this high-pressure environment, making employees more prone to mistakes.

“Employees face hundreds of decisions daily that range from small, routine choices to critical business decisions. Eventually, the brain’s ability to make sound judgments declines over time and pressure. The constant influx of emails, messages, and alerts are exacerbating this digital fatigue,” says Brandon Muller, Technical Expert for the MEA region at Kaspersky.

If robust cybersecurity solutions are in place to help identify and filter the threats, and if employees are educated and alert, organisations are in a much safer position. By addressing the root causes of decision and digital fatigue, companies can reduce the risk of successful phishing, deepfakes, and other sophisticated cyberattacks,” concludes Muller.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024