Page 21 - EngineerIT June July Issue 2026

CYBERSECURITY

“Even if a criminal possesses legitimate This is where Zero Trust becomes real. “Trust needs to be continuously earned
credentials and bypasses MFA, they through behaviour,” Collard emphasises. “Even if the user appears to be
(or their AI tool) won’t navigate your logged in correctly, by analysing the interaction between their hardware and
internal systems the way you do,” the application, these systems can identify when a device is being controlled
Collard points out. “An AI-driven remotely via a hijacked session.”
impersonation might get the ‘what’
right, but often struggles with the ‘how’ A holistic approach to Workforce Management
and ‘when’. These subtle mismatches Collard emphasises that, in an environment where employees work alongside
are where detection becomes possible. AI agents, protecting the identity of the employee becomes a core asset.
It’s less about catching a single
anomaly and more about spotting “Identity is the connective tissue between human behaviour and security risk,”
patterns that don’t quite fit the human she says.
behind the purported identity.”
She believes identity integrity is the lens through which organisations can
For instance, if an employee usually logs assess susceptibility – who is being targeted – and real-time exposure. “It
in at 9 am from the office, it becomes moves security from simple awareness to adaptive risk management at the
easier for security systems to detect human layer,” she comments.
when the user’s location is unfamiliar, or
they’re logging in at 11 pm. “Behavioural “Security is moving towards continuous, context-aware verification, where
biometrics will determine what the behaviour is a signal of trust,” Collard concludes. “In this environment,
employee’s familiar location is, the times detecting subtle deviations in user activity may prove far more valuable
they usually work and the way they than the strength of any single credential. We are moving toward continuous
access systems,” she says. “If any action authentication and digital familiarity, instead of checking your ID once at the
doesn’t align with their role and past door (the login), the system ‘watches’ you while you're in the building to make
behaviour, it’s immediately flagged.” sure you're still acting like you.”