Attended automation is automation that runs alongside a user, with a person present to confirm steps, enter missing data, or approve a decision before the workflow continues. It is common in RPA and other enterprise tools when a process is too sensitive or exception-heavy to fully automate.
In cyber security, this model matters because it keeps human judgment in the loop. Security teams use attended bots to pull logs, prefill incident forms, reset accounts, or guide analysts through response steps while preserving oversight. Defenders also use it for approval gates on access changes and payment or transaction checks. Attackers may try to exploit the same human presence through social engineering, pushing a user to approve a malicious action or trust data the bot presents. The security value of attended automation comes from combining speed with controlled review, especially for high-impact actions.