Remote work is a blessing and a curse — it means that employees can work from anywhere, and it means employees could be anyone.
“With the rise of digital transformation and the adoption of remote and hybrid work arrangements, companies face unique and evolving risks related to workforce integrity and security,” said Magen Gicinto, senior vice president of people strategy at Nisos.
As a human resources practitioner, Gicinto is in the unique position of experiencing the problem that Nisos’ clients encounter and riding shotgun to see how Nisos solves those problems for clients.
“I have an advantage in understanding the concerns around risks by employees and to employees,” Gicinto said, adding that she also understands “the evolving environment in which human resources professionals must have a security mindset to create a safe work environment for employees and to safeguard enterprises.”
Virtual work settings can be a perfect beachhead for bad actors when it comes to cybersecurity. An extreme example was a North Korean hacker who used stolen identity to land a remote principal software position at a U.S. security awareness training company in 2024. Nisos had published research six months prior to that warning companies of the fraudulent employment scheme.
What does Nisos do?
Nisos provides customers with expert consulting services meant to reduce their digital risks. The capabilities of Nisos include open-source threat intelligence for security, trust and safety, intelligence and legal teams. Nisos’ services include risk assessments, deep digital investigations and monitoring to help clients understand the threats to their business so they can protect their organization and people.
The more common fallibilities when it comes to human risk include things like insider threats, digital attacks, doxxing or unauthorized data sharing.
“In a virtual setting, there is potential for employment fraud, such as poly-working — working multiple jobs simultaneously without disclosure — and falsified resumes and credentials,” added Gicinto. “These risks can directly impact organizational trust, culture and operational integrity. It can result in unqualified individuals holding sensitive positions, financial loss, data breaches, loss of intellectual property, compliance issues and even physical harm to employees.”
“In a virtual setting, there is potential for employment fraud. These risks can result in unqualified individuals holding sensitive positions, financial loss, data breaches, loss of intellectual property, compliance issues and even physical harm to employees.”
Today, Nisos offers a service that the team calls “Human Risk Management” to help clients find these issues before they start to spiral out of control. And Brandon Kappus, senior vice president of client advisory at Nisos, oversaw a key aspect of adding Human Risk Management to Nisos’ offerings.
“Over the years of serving our clients, we have learned how difficult human risk problems are for their teams to solve,” said Kappus, who is responsible for client relationships, solutions delivery and growth at Nisos. “We have embarked on a business focus on Human Risk Management and are excited to add this to the portfolio of client problems we solve.”
Kappus gets the opportunity to work cross functionally within Nisos, with the goal of innovating new solutions. He added that he also works to “advise the market on how finished intelligence provides the strategic edge to combat risk centered around threats to and by humans.”
Kappus’ years of experience — working with clients across various sectors — led him and his team to realize that “digital risk is inherently human risk.”
“And human risk problems — like employment fraud, insider threat, executive protection and third-party risk — are challenges that nearly all enterprises face, especially given the rise of remote work and our growing exposure to the digital world,” he added.
“Our mission has always been to keep people safe,” continued Kappus. “And unmasking the ‘who’ behind threats is a core capability that has long differentiated our company. Focusing our technology-enabled analyst-led services on an inherently difficult set of problems to solve, we are uniquely able to help enterprises identify, investigate and prevent their human risk problems.”
How Human Risk Management Arrived on Nisos’ Menu
Part of the reason human risk is so hard to pinpoint is also why the team at Nisos saw it was such a need.
“Attributing the threat actor — identifying the individual, their associations and methods — is critical,” Kappus explained. “It is complex to do, and requires a combination of specialized expertise, tradecraft and technology that most enterprises do not possess. Working alongside our clients in their complex environments has shaped our identity — a commitment to keeping people safe from both internal and external threats. Our new human risk solutions ensure we remain laser-focused on delivering value to our clients while also driving innovative solutions to the market.”
“Attributing the threat actor is complex to do, and requires a combination of specialized expertise, tradecraft and technology that most enterprises do not possess.”
Kappus explained that the comprehensive plan at Nisos took shape over the last year.
“We deepened our understanding of where and how we operate best, the value we provide to our clients and the repeatable use cases that set us apart,” he noted, adding that bringing the service to life was driven by empirical data.
“While gut intuition has its place, validating our theories with data is paramount,” he said. “Collaborating with our exceptional team, my role began with characterizing our business use cases — understanding what we consistently deliver to clients and identifying what drives scalable growth. We had to learn quickly and adapt continuously to steer the project effectively.”
Kappus explained that this often meant extensive cross-departmental collaboration, interviewing industry experts, formulating strategies, testing strategies and iterating until they got it right.
“This initiative is particularly important to me because I have been actively involved in the learnings and collaboration with clients throughout this journey,” he shared. “Witnessing bringing our human risk solutions to life reinforces all of our hard work. It aligns with our passion for creating safer environments and protecting individuals from the ever-evolving threats they face. Being part of this journey with Nisos has been a privilege, and I’m incredibly proud to see our efforts bear fruit.”
Gicinto agreed, adding: “I am most proud of our team’s ability to come together, make quick and confident decisions, drive change and execute our strategy efficiently. But what truly leaves me in awe — and fills me with the greatest pride — are the incredible people at Nisos.”
For Gicinto, working at Nisos includes an inherent commitment to making the world better.
“The people at Nisos wake up every day driven by a shared mission to make the world a better place,” Gicinto said. “Their dedication and unwavering belief that the good guys can and will win continually inspires me. It’s a privilege to work alongside such driven and compassionate individuals, and I am honored to celebrate the positive difference they make.”
How The New Service Embodies Nisos’ Values
Gicinto’s vantage point — being the internal person who would work with Nisos if it was an external business partner — shows just how important the service can be.
“By addressing human risks and helping our clients protect their employees and enterprises, we demonstrate a forward-thinking approach that embraces innovative paths to today’s human risk challenges,” shared Gicinto. “Our collaboration between our teams exemplifies our commitment to working together, leveraging cross-functional strengths to create meaningful solutions that keep our clients safe.”
This service mirrors several of the company’s internal core values as well — “We Work Together,” “We Cultivate Innovation” and “We are Trusted Partners.”
“As a trusted partner to our clients, we are prioritizing safeguarding their interests, reputation and data by taking tangible actions that align with our values, showing that we are not only talking about values and our mission of keeping people safe, but actively living it through impactful initiatives that are solving for future business needs and risks,” said Gicinto.
Kappus agreed, adding,“This initiative has the potential to create several positive impacts for our company. By clearly defining and refining use cases around a set of specific, challenging enterprise problems, we’ve set a new path for scalable growth.”
He explained how the cross-departmental collaboration and data-driven approach that went into rolling out the new service strengthened teamwork and fostered a shared sense of purpose.
“Working together in this way has not only enhanced our problem-solving capabilities but also built a culture of innovation and continuous improvement,” he said. “From a client perspective, our focus on empirically validated solutions around human risk enhances the trust and value we provide.”
He pointed out that clients can see that the offering is backed by market demand, which gives Nisos even more credibility as experts in the subject.
“Human Risk Management is yet another way we can deliver on our mission to help people and be of service, a commitment that drives so many of us,” said Kappus. “This mission inspires our work and ensures that everything we do continues to deliver meaningful impact.”
“Human Risk Management is yet another way we can deliver on our mission to help people and be of service, a commitment that drives so many of us.”
For both Kappus and Gicinto, adding Human Risk Management to Nisos’ services is a taste of the larger team culture and mission at Nisos.
“It showcases our adaptability and resilience, as we continuously learn, adjust and refine our approach to deliver meaningful outcomes,” Kappus pointed out. “
Kappus concluded, “What people can learn about Nisos, from this example, is that we genuinely care. We’re passionate about making a difference, and our mission to help people and be of service fuels our determination to win — not just for ourselves, but for our clients and the broader community. Our team believes in the power of doing good, and we’re willing to put in the hard work to ensure the good guys come out on top.”
