When many people think of data breaches and cyberattacks, their first assumption is that a malicious internal party caused them. However, insider threat statistics show that it is also highly likely that someone inside the affected organization has caused the cybersecurity problems. Additionally, these parties do not always do so because they desire to harm the company. Sometimes, they make mistakes with disastrous consequences.
In any case, insider threats are growing concerns to cybersecurity professionals and company leaders who want to keep data safe.
Companies of all sizes and types can become part of insider threat statistics. Factors within and outside employees’ direct influence can make these issues more likely. Consider if a worker consistently gets asked to do too many things at once and eventually makes the mistake of sending sensitive information to the wrong person. Poor management was likely a strong contributor to that outcome.
Some situations fall into somewhat of a gray area. For example, some people use apps at work to increase their productivity, but IT departments don’t know about it. The users may not immediately recognize the potential security risks of that decision. At the same time, IT departments should ideally be more proactive.
One option is to explicitly require all workers to agree that they will not use any programs without the explicit permission of the IT team. Another approach is to have an IT department member set up each workplace device and have monitoring tools on it to verify which apps people use and prevent them from downloading any others.
Insider threats can also occur due to training gaps, such as if some people receive the details of a new cybersecurity policy while another team never does or gets the information late. Scheduling training strategically to give appropriate coverage across all departments is a smart preventive measure.
People frequently discuss insider threats, but some may still need some clarification about the topic. Many common questions arise.
One misconception is that insiders are always a company’s employees. However, they can be anyone with access to the organization’s information. So, insiders could be visitors, interns, vendors, contractors and any others.
Insider threats generally fall into two main categories: Unintentional and intentional. Those in the first group make accidental mistakes or show negligence that causes the cybersecurity issue. Then, intentional threats come from so-called malicious insiders. These parties take purposeful actions to harm organizations, either to benefit themselves or get revenge for perceived slights.
There is also an important subset to cover here. Collusive threats occur when insiders collaborate with outside parties, and all of them work together to harm the organization in question.
Evidence suggests allowing employees to work remotely could raise organizations’ insider threat risks. That’s because it is harder for IT teams to oversee what distributed teams do, and some potential risks are virtually impossible to detect. For example, someone might take a screenshot during a Zoom meeting, capturing confidential information they intend to leak to competitors. However, establishing best practices, setting expectations and maintaining a security-centered culture can significantly reduce such issues.
What should people be aware of regarding the changing insider threat landscape as they try to stay as safe as possible? One emerging trend is that inadequate offboarding techniques can put companies at risk. More specifically, employees may still be able to access company information after leaving their roles. However, using account control dashboards with automated features can reduce or eliminate the manual steps taken to revoke privileges when someone departs.
Cybersecurity researchers have also warned that more insider threats include privilege escalation. Their investigation centered on on-premises incidents and found that people more frequently use their privilege escalation exploits to increase what they can do once inside an organization’s infrastructure. However, keeping software updated and patched against vulnerabilities are two straightforward and effective measures to take. Many insiders seeking to benefit from privilege escalation capitalize on known system weaknesses.
This overview will help you understand your organization’s insider threats, allowing you to take decisive steps to reduce them. Knowing about this issue goes a long way in encouraging people to establish appropriate safeguards while recognizing how they could unintentionally cause or contribute to an insider threat through mistakes or oversights.
