Technology Addiction: The Hidden Cybersecurity Threat
Massachusetts lawmakers are finally confronting a reality that parents and educators have long recognized: Our children are drowning in digital distraction. New legislation underway in Massachusetts would ban cellphone use in the state’s public schools, joining jurisdictions like Australia, which has already acted nationally, and echoing the U.K. where schools are empowered to enact bans without requiring new legislation. This move acknowledges what many organizations have yet to fully grasp—that our relationship with technology has moved to a degree of dangerous dependency, one that could lead to personal and organizational risk.
Tethered To Devices And Technology
As someone who has spent years studying the intersection of human behavior and cybersecurity, I’ve watched this addiction take root and spread with alarming consequences for businesses worldwide.
We hand iPads to babies, and the addiction begins.
We see couples in restaurants spending more time on their iPhones than engaging with each other.
Instagram and Facebook are full of meaningless pictures of meals not tasted and places not visited.
Generative AI has become the latest go-to for those wishing to be seen as artistic—using these tools to create written and visual content of questionable value and accuracy.
And so the technology addiction self-perpetuates.
Many begin their day the same way they end it: by scrolling on their phone. It’s a behavior, a compulsion, far too common. Published evidence on sleep disturbances in children should give us pause.
The implications go beyond personal wellness, reaching into the core of organizational cybersecurity.
Workplace Addiction Crisis
Technology has become so ubiquitous and such a part of our daily lives that we’re largely unaware of how much time and attention it claims. Harvard Business Review found that we toggle between apps and websites about 1,200 times a day. This constant switching takes a toll. It’s estimated that we spend almost four hours a week simply resetting our concentration.
This constant switching between devices and tasks is what psychologists call “switching costs,” referring to the depletion of mental resources we need for critical thinking and decision-making.
Dr. Shanique Brown, whose research focuses on workplace cognition, explains that these digital distractions interfere with our ability to focus and give proper attention to our work. “If my working memory capacity is low,” she notes, “there’s a greater cost for me to switch back to do the work I was initially doing. The distraction steals some of my mental capacity.”
This cognitive depletion isn’t just a productivity problem—it’s a security crisis waiting to happen.
Cybersecurity ‘Scamdemic’ Connection
As employees become increasingly mentally fatigued from constant switching between devices, they become less attentive. Their guard drops. They can, consequently, be more subject to cybersecurity threats, which are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and frequent.
During the pandemic, phishing attacks surged 220%, leading the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to refer to it as a “scamdemic.” Cybercriminals have honed their skills to specifically exploit human weaknesses like gullibility, curiosity, impulsivity and simple lack of attention.
An already fatigued and distracted employee that receives an urgent email purportedly from the company CEO requesting an immediate wire transfer is likely to act before thinking objectively about the likelihood and veracity of such a request. That vulnerability drives social engineering scams.
The relationship between tech addiction and security risk operates on multiple levels:
• Constant device usage creates a state of continuous partial attention, making it more likely to ignore anomalies, red flags or indicators of compromise (IOCs) that signal a potential security breach.
• When employees are mentally exhausted from digital overstimulation, they’re more likely to take shortcuts such as reusing passwords, clicking without thinking or bypassing security protocols that seem inconvenient.
• Burnout from technology overuse makes employees more likely to respond impulsively to urgent requests—the psychological pressure that attackers exploit.
Beyond Technology Solutions
Tackling technology addiction requires organizations to think explicitly and strategically about minimizing employees’ tech reliance and distractions. This can be done by:
• Establishing periods and spaces where devices are prohibited allows employees to reset their cognitive capacity and approach work with renewed focus.
• Limiting work-related emails outside business hours reduces the pressure to be constantly connected.
• Encouraging reflection on authentic, nondigital experiences may help employees recognize and address their own technology dependencies.
The key is framing these efforts not as rules or restrictions, but as a way to support employee well-being and organizational security. When senior leaders visibly disconnect during meetings and interpersonal interactions, they offer explicit permission for employees to do the same. When employees feel trusted and supported rather than monitored and controlled, they’re more likely to embrace healthier work habits voluntarily.
The Path Forward
The Massachusetts school cellphone ban recognizes that digital addiction has become a public health issue that demands proactive intervention. While organizations of all kinds have made significant strides in safeguards like endpoint threat detection, encryption and access controls, technology alone cannot tackle human vulnerabilities that are exacerbated by tech addiction and burnout. Organizations that proactively address technology addiction can help employees become more productive and engaged, but also more alert and security aware.