Securing Humans from Human-Driven Cyber Threats: AI's Role in Modern Cyber Defence

Cyber-attacks have evolved into highly sophisticated threats, with human- driven attacks such as phishing, social engineering, and cyberbullying posing significant challenges to both individuals and organizations. This research investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) can effectively mitigate these threats while ensuring accessibility for non-technical users through a minimal- intervention approach. By leveraging AI technologies, this study explores the prevention of diverse human-driven cyberattacks, including insider threats, impersonation attacks, business email compromise (BEC), ransomware facilitated by social engineering, and data breaches caused by human error. A critical focus of this research is on privacy-preserving methodologies, ensuring that AI solutions safeguard user data and adhere to ethical standards. The study combines a comprehensive literature review with data from a university-wide survey that captures user awareness, experiences with cyber threats, and perceptions of AI-driven security tools. Survey findings are analyzed to evaluate public trust, privacy concerns, and the potential acceptance of AI in cybersecurity. By integrating theoretical insights with real-world data, this research proposes user-friendly AI strategies that balance technical effectiveness with ethical considerations. The goal is to develop solutions that enhance cybersecurity against human-driven attacks while respecting user autonomy and ensuring broad accessibility.