Why Do Employees Hesitate to Challenge or Report Tailgating Incidents?

Tailgating, or unauthorized access by following an employee, is a workplace security threat. A Ponemon Institute survey found that 71% of organizations had experienced a physical security breach, with tailgating a common entry method (Source: HT). Yet, many employees hesitate to report or challenge such incidents, leaving organizations vulnerable.

Psychological and social factors like fear of confrontation, social pressure, and the normalization of tailgating often prevent employees from taking action.

In this blog, we’ll explore why employees hesitate to report tailgating, its security risks, and practical strategies organizations can use to empower their workforce to identify and address unauthorized access attempts confidently.

Understanding the Human Psychology Behind Inaction

Employees often fail to report or stop tailgating because they fear confrontation, think someone else will handle it, or believe it’s not a serious issue. When tailgating happens regularly without consequences, it starts to feel normal, making people even less likely to take action.

To fix this, companies need to understand these reasons and create a culture where employees feel safe and confident in speaking up.

The Challenge-Inaction Gap

Tailgating is a well-known security risk, yet employees often hesitate to act. This hesitation is driven by fear of confrontation, reliance on others to take action, or simply not recognizing the risk.

Check out Keepnet’s blog on What is a Tailgating Attack for a deeper understanding of tailgating attacks and how they compromise security.

In many cases, employees worry about offending someone or escalating a situation. Others assume that someone else will step in, resulting in no action being taken. When tailgating becomes routine and goes unaddressed, it starts to feel normal, further reducing the likelihood of intervention.

Let’s break down the range of psychological, cultural, and situational factors contributing to this inaction and understand why employees often fail to respond in these critical moments.

1. Fear of Confrontation

Employees often hesitate to challenge tailgaters because they fear escalating or causing unnecessary conflict. They may worry that questioning someone could be perceived as rude, confrontational, or even disrespectful, especially in professional settings.

Example: An employee sees someone they don't recognize entering the building but avoids questioning them, fearing they might seem rude or aggressive.

2. Diffusion of Responsibility

When several employees witness a tailgating incident, they may assume someone else will take action, resulting in no one addressing the issue.

Example: Employees notice someone slipping in behind an authorized person in a crowded entryway but assume others will report it.

3. Normalization of Behavior

If tailgating happens regularly without consequences, employees may view it as harmless or routine. Over time, this repeated exposure can create a false sense of normalcy, where employees no longer see tailgating as a potential security threat.

Example: A delivery person is often seen tailgating into the office, leading employees to believe it's an acceptable practice.

4. Lack of Training or Awareness

If employees lack proper training or awareness, they may fail to understand the risks of tailgating or even recognize it as a security threat. They might not realize the importance of addressing such incidents without clear guidance.

Example: A new hire assumes that tailgating is normal and doesn’t consider it worth reporting.

5. Social Pressure

Social pressure can discourage employees from challenging someone who seems authoritative, confident, or friendly. Social dynamics, such as respecting perceived hierarchy or avoiding awkward interactions, often prevent them from speaking up, even when they sense something is wrong.

Example: An employee avoids questioning someone in a suit, assuming they must be a senior executive or authorized visitor.

6. Optimism Bias

Optimism bias makes employees assume that a tailgater is harmless and unlikely to cause harm, leading them to downplay the potential risks. This way of thinking creates a false sense of safety, discouraging employees from acting or reporting the incident.

Example: “They probably just forgot their badge—it’s not a big deal.”

The Risks of Tailgating

Tailgating is a serious security threat that can lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, theft, and even physical harm. In industries with strict compliance requirements, such incidents can result in legal penalties, financial losses, and reputational damage.

The risks are well-documented. A survey by Boon Edam found that over 70% of organizations feel vulnerable to security breaches caused by tailgating. For example, a hacker once gained access to a data center by following an employee inside, allowing them to steal sensitive customer data. Cases like these highlight the urgent need for organizations to strengthen access controls and foster a culture of security awareness to prevent unauthorized entry.

Strategies to Overcome Inaction

Organizations can address the psychological barriers to challenging and reporting tailgating through targeted strategies:

1. Foster a Security-First Culture: Encourage employees to prioritize security over social discomfort. Reinforce that questioning someone’s access is not confrontational but responsible.
2. Provide Anonymous Reporting Channels: Allow employees to report suspicious incidents, including tailgating, without fear of judgment or retaliation.
3. Enhance Training and Awareness: Incorporate tailgating scenarios into security training programs to teach employees how to identify and address these incidents.
4. Empower Employees with Guidelines: Provide clear guidelines and easy access to security personnel for employees unsure how to handle a potential tailgating situation.
5. Promote Accountability: Make security everyone’s responsibility by emphasizing that each employee plays a critical role in maintaining a safe workplace.

How Keepnet Empowers Humans for Secure Access

The Keepnet Human Risk Management Platform equips organizations with the tools to minimize security risks like tailgating by enhancing employee awareness, response, and reporting capabilities.

• Security Awareness Training: With Keepnet’s Security Awareness Training, employees learn how to identify and respond to unauthorized access attempts, reinforcing a security-first mindset.
• Phishing Simulations: Keepnet’s Phishing Simulator helps assess employees' vulnerability to social engineering tactics, ensuring they recognize and respond to suspicious behavior.
• Incident Response Tools: Keepnet’s Incident Responder enables rapid threat detection and removal, cutting response time 48.6 times faster than traditional methods. Employees can instantly report phishing emails, allowing security teams to analyze and neutralize threats within minutes.

By leveraging Keepnet’s security solutions, businesses can educate employees, strengthen their security culture, and proactively prevent threats like tailgating before they lead to serious breaches.

Check out the Keepnet Human Risk Management Platform for more details on strengthening your organization’s security.

Conclusion

Preventing tailgating starts with understanding why employees hesitate to act. Organizations can create a security-first culture where employees feel confident reporting unauthorized access by addressing the psychological and cultural barriers that lead to inaction.

With the Keepnet Human Risk Management Platform, businesses can enhance security awareness, improve threat response, and reduce human cyber risk. Stopping tailgating is a shared responsibility—every challenge and report strengthens organizational security.