User Harm
User harm refers to the negative impacts that happen to regular people—like losing money or having their reputation damaged—because of a security attack, rather than the damage being focused on the company itself.
In AI security, user harm describes adverse outcomes, such as financial loss or reputational damage, that specifically target or affect individual end-users as a result of a system compromise, distinguishing these impacts from broader organizational or infrastructure-level damage.
User harm denotes the subset of security impact vectors characterized by the direct or indirect infliction of tangible or intangible injury—specifically including financial and reputational degradation—upon individual subjects, as opposed to systemic or organizational-level compromise, necessitating distinct mitigation strategies focused on individual victim protection.