AI is now the second-biggest human risk in the workplace tracked by security awareness professionals, ranking behind only social engineering, according to the SANS Institute’s 2026 Security Awareness & Culture Report.

The findings underscore the importance of connecting employee security awareness with broader enterprise identity protection and threat intelligence strategies as organizations adapt to evolving cyber risks.

Now in its 11th year, the report features its first dedicated section on AI risk. The findings are based on a survey of 1,700 security awareness practitioners across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America.

Employee adoption of AI is outpacing security teams’ ability to govern it, with the report noting three areas practitioners now must manage:

  • Unauthorized use of generative AI tools
  • Vibe coding by employees with no software development background
  • Risks introduced by AI agents operating without a human reviewing their actions

AI Adoption Creates New Identity Security Challenges

As AI adoption expands across the workplace, organizations must also consider how these tools affect identity security. Unauthorized applications, compromised credentials and AI-enabled social engineering can increase exposure to account takeover and other identity-based threats. Strong employee identity protection, credential exposure monitoring and dark web monitoring can help organizations identify potential risks and strengthen their broader security strategies.

Strengthening Identity Protection Alongside AI Governance

Addressing these risks requires a combination of employee awareness, clear policies, and technical safeguards. Organizations can take several practical steps to strengthen their defenses:

  • Establish approved AI-use policies. Define which AI tools employees may use, what information they can share, and when human review is required. Make expectations clear for both employees and teams deploying AI agents.
  • Train employees to verify unusual requests. Teach staff to independently confirm unexpected login requests, password-reset instructions, payment changes, and requests for sensitive information. Verification should take place through a trusted channel, not by replying to the original message.
  • Strengthen authentication controls. Implement multifactor authentication (MFA), preferably phishing-resistant methods where feasible, and apply appropriate access controls to reduce the risk of unauthorized account access.
  • Monitor for credential exposure. Look for exposed usernames, passwords, and other identity information that could enable attackers to compromise accounts. Establish a process for investigating potential exposure, resetting affected credentials, and responding to related threats.

These measures work together to address different aspects of identity risk. Awareness training helps employees recognize suspicious requests, authentication controls make unauthorized access more difficult, and credential monitoring can help organizations identify compromised information that requires attention.

How Enfortra Supports Identity Protection

Enfortra provides an additional layer of identity protection that complements employee awareness training, AI governance, and existing security controls. Its NetSentinel solution monitors for exposed credentials and identity data, helping organizations identify potential exposure and take appropriate action.

For example, if an employee’s credentials appear in an exposed data set, monitoring can alert an organization to a potential risk. Security teams can then investigate, reset affected credentials, and take steps to protect the account.

Exposure monitoring does not prevent every phishing attempt or stop credentials from being stolen. Instead, it helps organizations identify compromised information and respond more effectively.

For organizations with limited internal resources, identity protection solutions can complement employee awareness training and other security measures as part of a broader security strategy.

As AI reshapes the cybersecurity landscape, organizations need a layered approach that combines responsible AI use, employee education, strong authentication, and ongoing monitoring for credential exposure. Enfortra’s NetSentinel helps organizations identify exposed credentials and identity data, supporting a more proactive approach to identity protection.