Security professionals often call employees the 'first line of defense' because most breaches begin with a human action — clicking a phishing link, using a weak password, or plugging in an unknown USB drive — rather than a purely technical failure. Safe data handling at work includes locking your screen when stepping away, avoiding sending sensitive files over personal email, following your organization's device and software policies (including rules around personal devices used for work, known as BYOD), and storing confidential documents only in approved systems. Most organizations would rather receive a false alarm than have a real incident go unreported, so employees should report anything suspicious — an unusual email, a strange pop-up, a lost work device — immediately to IT or security staff rather than trying to handle it alone or staying silent out of embarrassment.