Why Rushed Access Changes Cause 40% of Data Breaches — and How Data-Centric Security Prevents It

The end-of-year period is one of the most dangerous times for data security.

Organizations make rushed access changes, grant temporary permissions, and rely on manual processes under extreme time pressure. According to security research, around 40% of data breaches are caused by human error, often linked to misconfigured access controls and manual permission changes.

This makes year-end operations a peak risk season for sensitive data exposure — especially in systems that rely solely on access-based security models.

During end-of-year operations, companies face multiple overlapping risks:

• Manual access control changes without proper review

• Temporary permissions that remain active

• Contractors and third parties receiving broad access

• Security teams overloaded with audits and deadlines

In traditional security models, access equals exposure.
Once access is granted, sensitive data becomes readable — and any misconfiguration directly increases the risk of a data breach.

Most access control systems assume ideal conditions:

• Permissions are always correctly assigned

• Access is revoked immediately when no longer needed

• Human error is rare

In reality, human error is inevitable, especially during high-pressure periods.

When security depends entirely on roles, permissions, and manual processes, a single mistake can expose large volumes of sensitive data.

Data-centric security changes the focus from controlling access to protecting the data itself.

Instead of relying on perfect access management, data-first security ensures that:

• Sensitive data remains protected even if access is misconfigured

• Unauthorized access does not automatically expose readable data

• Breaches do not equal data loss

This approach significantly reduces the impact of human error and access control failures.

PriviCore applies data-centric security at the data level, ensuring that sensitive information is protected before it reaches applications or users.

With PriviCore:

• Sensitive data stays protected even during access control failures

• Misconfigured permissions do not expose usable data

• Breaches are contained without data leakage

By removing access control as a single point of failure, PriviCore helps organizations prevent data breaches caused by human error.

End-of-year operations are just one example of high-risk security environments. Similar conditions occur during:

• System migrations

• Compliance audits

• Rapid scaling

• Organizational changes

In all these scenarios, data-first security reduces breach impact by design — not by process.

• The goal of modern security is not to eliminate every mistake.
  It is to ensure that mistakes do not lead to sensitive data exposure.

  Data-centric security acknowledges real-world complexity and protects organizations where traditional access-based models fail.

End-of-year pressure exposes the weaknesses of access-based security.

By protecting sensitive data at its core, data-centric security models like PriviCore allow organizations to operate efficiently — without increasing breach risk.

👉 See how data-first protection eliminates human error

Learn how PriviCore secures sensitive data even when access controls fail.

Let’s talk.