As a small business owner, I know how important it is to keep your company safe. This means protecting your data, your good name, and all your hard work. Insider breaches, whether they’re on purpose or by accident, can really hurt your business1.
Insider threats come from people inside your company like employees, partners, or contractors. They have access to important info or company resources. These people might do something harmful for many reasons, hurting your business’s money, name, following rules, and how things work1.
But don’t worry, you don’t have to deal with this on your own. Handling insider threats well is key to spotting, stopping, and reacting to them. This way, you can keep what’s most important safe1.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Insider threats can cause big problems for companies, like losing money and damaging their reputation.
- These threats come from people inside the company, like employees or contractors.
- Managing insider threats well means checking risks, making rules, training, watching, and always getting better.
- Doing risk assessments for the whole company and making sure everyone follows the rules can really help lower these risks.
- Keeping things physically safe, using software, and controlling who gets access are key to fighting insider threats.
What is an Insider Threat?
Insider threats are a big risk for companies. They happen when people with access use that access to harm the company. This can be from those who act out of revenge or want money, or from those who don’t know better and make mistakes. Even those whose info has been stolen by others can be used to get into and hurt a company’s private info and systems2.
Defining Insider Threats
Insider threats are when someone with access to a company uses that access to hurt the company. This can be through spying, fraud, stealing ideas, or causing trouble2.
Categorizing Insider Threats
Insider threats can be put into three main groups:
- Malicious Insiders: These are people who use their access and knowledge to hurt the company on purpose. They might do this for revenge, money, or other bad reasons. They can act alone or work with others2.
- Careless Insiders: These are people who make mistakes or don’t think things through, which can put the company at risk. They might be tricked into doing something bad or they might just make a mistake2.
- Compromised Insiders: These are people who have had their info stolen by others. These others then use that info to get into the company’s systems and find out private things2.
To deal with these insider threats, a company needs to use technology, rules, and change the way the company works2.
| Insider Threat Type | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Malicious Insiders | People who use their access and knowledge to hurt the company on purpose | Espionage, fraud, stealing ideas, causing trouble |
| Careless Insiders | People who make mistakes or don’t think things through, which can put the company at risk | Being tricked, having someone else use your info, making a mistake |
| Compromised Insiders | People who have had their info stolen by others | People who let others get into the company’s systems and find out private things |
Knowing about the different kinds of insider threats is key for companies to make good plans to stop these risks2.
The Risks of Insider Threats
Insider threats can cause big financial and reputational problems for companies. Data breaches by insiders can cost an average of $4.90 million, which is 9.5% more than the total data breach cost, as per the IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 20233. Insiders can hide their actions better than outsiders, staying hidden longer because they know the system well3.
Financial Implications
Insider threats can lead to huge financial losses. These incidents can result in stolen money, legal costs, and the need to fix problems, adding up to millions of dollars3. They can also disrupt operations, reduce market share, and lead to faulty products3. Legal issues include fines and the cost of fighting lawsuits, all because of unauthorized access and data breaches3.
Reputational Damage
Insider threats can badly hurt a company’s reputation. When insiders steal intellectual property, it can lead to legal trouble and higher lawyer fees3. These incidents can make customers lose trust, hurting sales and brand loyalty, making recovery hard and expensive3. It’s crucial to have strong security and plans to manage insider risks, and to teach employees about cybersecurity3.
To fight insider threats, companies should use tools to watch user activities, train employees against phishing, and have good ways to investigate incidents3. These steps can lessen the risks of financial, operational, and reputational damage from insider threats3.
| Insider Threat Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Insider-related incidents per year | Over 30 (60% of organizations) |
| Insider-related incidents attributed to negligence | 62% |
| Insider-related incidents attributed to criminal insiders | 23% |
| Insider-related incidents attributed to user credential theft | 14% |
| Increase in insider-related incidents over two years | 47% |
| Average cost per insider-related incident | $755,760 |
Insider threats can greatly affect a company’s finances, compliance, and reputation4. It’s important to take steps ahead of time to protect against insider risks and keep sensitive information safe3.
Insider Threat Management
Keeping your organization safe means focusing on insider threat management. This means using strategies to spot, stop, and handle threats from people inside your company. They might have access to important info or systems. Managing insider threats includes risk assessment, making clear security policies, training employees, and having plans for incident response.
Starting with a detailed risk assessment is key. You need to find out what threats could happen, how likely they are, and how bad they could be. Then, you can make security policies and controls to stop these threats5.
- Make clear rules about what users can do, how to handle data, and what happens if they don’t follow the rules. Make sure everyone knows these rules and they are always followed.
- Use strong access controls like more than one way to prove who you are, different levels of permission, and check who has access often. This helps keep sensitive info and important systems safe.
- Keep an eye on what users and systems are doing to find anything that looks fishy. Use security information and event management (SIEM) tools to look at lots of data at once.
Putting a lot into insider threat management helps your company stay ahead of threats. It keeps your important stuff safe and keeps your customers and stakeholders trusting you. By doing risk assessments, making strong security policies, training employees, and using the latest tools to watch and detect, you can lower the risks from inside threats67.
Insider Threat Prevention Best Practices
Protecting your organization from insider threats needs a detailed plan. Doing a risk assessment across the whole is key. It helps spot sensitive data, see how easy it is to get to, and check who can access it8. This step is crucial for finding weak spots and figuring out the risks, so you can focus on the right security steps.
Enforce Policies and Controls
It’s important to have strong security rules and controls to fight insider threats. This means handling how to fire employees right, setting strict password rules, and watching what users do8. These steps help stop unauthorized access and catch odd behavior fast.
Establish Physical Security in the Work Environment
Boosting physical security at work is key to stopping insider threats. Use things like biometric checks or key cards for access, and watch over employees with cameras to catch any wrong moves8. These steps, along with digital security, make a strong defense plan.
“Insider threats have gone up by 44% since 2020 because of market changes, and most (56%) of these incidents come from careless employees.”8
Stopping insider threats means using risk assessment, security policies and controls, and physical security measures together. With these steps, companies can cut down the risk of data breaches by insiders and keep their important stuff safe.
| Data Classification | Access Control | Physical Security | Security Policies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identify and categorize sensitive information assets | Implement access controls based on user roles and responsibilities | Deploy access control systems and video surveillance | Establish comprehensive security policies and procedures |
| Implement data protection measures based on classification | Monitor and audit user access to sensitive data and systems | Restrict physical access to sensitive areas and equipment | Regularly review and update security policies |
| Regularly review and update data classification guidelines | Revoke access privileges upon employee termination | Maintain visitor logs and enforce visitor management protocols | Communicate security policies to all employees |
By using risk assessment, data classification, access control, physical security, and security policies wisely, companies can make their security better and fight off insider threats98.
Use Software Solutions to Secure Access
To fight insider threats, companies can use advanced software. These tools watch over, control, and keep safe the access to important info and systems inside the company. Key software includes data loss prevention (DLP) software, user behavior analytics (UBA) tools, endpoint security solutions, encryption software, and identity and access management (IAM) systems10.
DLP software stops unauthorized access or sharing of sensitive data, keeping important info safe inside. UBA tools check how users act and look for odd that could mean insider threats11. Endpoint security keeps devices like laptops and phones safe from unauthorized access or data theft. Encryption software keeps data safe, even if it ends up in the wrong hands. IAM systems control who can see or use certain systems or data.
| Software Solution | Key Features | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Data Loss Prevention (DLP) | – Watches and controls how data moves – Stops unauthorized data access or sharing | – Keeps sensitive info safe – Lowers the chance of data breaches |
| User Behavior Analytics (UBA) | – Looks at how users act and their patterns – Finds odd things that might show insider threats | – Finds insider threats early – Helps stop risks before they start |
| Endpoint Security | – Keeps devices safe from unauthorized access – Protects data on laptops, phones, and other devices | – Makes the company more secure – Stops data from leaking from devices |
| Encryption Software | – Makes data hard to read to keep it safe – Keeps data private, even if it’s stolen | – Protects sensitive info – Lessens the damage from data breaches |
| Identity and Access Management (IAM) | – Manages who is and what they can do – Makes sure only the right people get into systems and see data | – Stops unauthorized access – Makes things more accountable and follows rules |
Using these software solutions, companies can make their security much better and lower the risks from insider threats. These tools make things automatic, offer real-time protection, and help companies spot, watch, and stop insider threats well10.
Implement Proper Access Controls
To protect your organization from insider threats, you need strong access controls. This means using user authentication and authorization methods. Also, use role-based access controls (RBAC) to give the right permissions12.
It’s also key to have a clear process for privilege elevation. This stops unauthorized access and keeps the principle of least privilege. Doing access reviews often helps stop “permission creep” and makes sure users have only what they need12.
- Following rules is a big reason for changing how access controls work12.
- IT teams often use outside help to keep systems safe, protect data, and follow big rules like NIST 800-53, PCI, HIPAA, and others12.
- Windows Active Directory doesn’t have some basic access controls, like stopping people from logging in at the same time, setting network access rules, or alerting on wrong file access12.
- With more people using their own devices, we need better ways to keep user access safe12.
- We need more controls to stop security issues from bad or careless users and stolen accounts12.
To get better security, User Access Control Policies should have limits on logins, specific rules for different sessions and apps, and rules against logging in from many places at once. They should also limit logins by time12.
Tools like UserLock can help enforce these policies. They make sure network access is secure and stop Insider Threats12.
“Access controls are a critical component for insider threat prevention.”13
Using the right access controls is key to fighting insider threats. By using strong user checks, permission systems, and controls, companies can lower the risk of data breaches and other bad actions from insiders13.
Regularly Monitor Activities to Detect Unauthorized Actions
Keeping a close eye on what’s happening in your systems is key to spotting unauthorized actions. Monitoring and logging access and activities helps alert you to anything out of the ordinary. By looking into these logs, you can spot patterns that might mean someone is up to no good.
This lets you step in early14. Using a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system helps keep track of what employees do. Keeping logs for a long time makes it easier to figure out what happened during an incident15.
Continuous Monitoring and Logging
It’s vital to keep a watchful eye and log all the activity in your system. This way, you can catch and check out any odd behavior or unauthorized tries to get in14. Staying alert like this helps you dodge insider threats and lessen the risks they bring15.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Having a strong SIEM system is key to fighting insider threats. SIEM tools bring together and look over security data from different places. This lets companies spot, check out, and act on suspicious actions fast15. With detailed logs and smart analytics, SIEM can spot and stop insider threats early on15.
It’s also key to keep a tight rein on remote access to your systems. This helps keep your systems safe from unauthorized entry by insiders15.
“Proactive steps against insider threats include making strong insider threat programs, watching user actions, and setting up access controls.”15
Train Employees for Security Awareness
Teaching your team about security and how to use their access rights is key. It helps keep your company safe from insiders. Comprehensive security awareness training programs keep up with new threats and help spot insider threats. This makes your company safer16.
About 30% of security breaches come from insiders. Sadly, most training doesn’t work well16. To fight this, try new ways to teach security, like Mimecast’s fun, five-minute videos each month16.
Mimecast uses learning science and sitcoms to teach security. This makes the lessons stick better16. The program also tests how employees feel about security and checks for phishing. This helps find and fix weak spots in your team16.
Training your team often keeps them ready for new threats17. While in-person training can be time-consuming, online training is often better for many companies17.
A good security training program turns your employees into your first line of defense. This makes your company safer16.
Insider Threat
Insider threats can be very harmful, costing an average of $11.45 million per incident in 202018. These threats can come from unhappy employees, careless ones, or those with compromised accounts. They can lead to the loss of sensitive data, disrupt business, and harm the company’s reputation.
The Ponemon Institute found in 2020 that 63% of insider threats were due to employee carelessness18. Also, 72% of third-party workers had too much access to company data, which is as risky as employee access19.
Insider threats can expose data up to 34 times a day, showing how often data breaches can happen19. The 2023 Data Exposure Report by Code42 found that CISOs see insider risk as the toughest threat to catch19.
To stop insider threats, it’s important to watch how data moves and set up trusted user behaviors19. This helps in preventing data breaches from insiders19.
A former employee at Vertafore caused a big data breach, affecting 27.7 million Texas drivers’ records18. Another employee at a New York credit union deleted over 21GB of data right after being fired18. The City of Dallas also lost more than 22TB of data, including police files, due to an insider’s mistake18.
To fight insider threats, companies need strong security steps. This includes watching user actions, controlling access, and training employees. By doing this, businesses can keep their valuable assets safe and keep their customers’ trust.
Reducing Insider Threat Risks
To protect your organization from insider threats, you need a strong plan. Key steps include checking system activities and making strategic plans.
Information System Activity Reviews
Regular checks of system activities are key, as HIPAA says20. These checks look at software, hardware, user access, and odd behaviors. They help spot and stop insider threats early.
Strategic Action Plans
Creating plans to tackle insider threats is also vital20. These plans should cover who does what, safety steps, and how to spot oddities. A step-by-step plan helps adapt to new security issues and lessen threat impact.
Studies show that right rewards and penalties are key to stopping insider threats20. A security-focused culture and empowered employees can stop bad actions and promote safe data handling.
“60% of data breaches come from insiders, and 74% of firms face some insider threat risk21. A strong insider threat program is key to protecting your data and reputation.”
Insider threats can be mistakes, bad actions, carelessness, or working with others on a bad plan22. Knowing the types of threats and having a solid plan helps protect your important info and resources.
- Regularly check system activities to spot and fix insider threats20.
- Make plans that clearly state roles, duties, and how to handle threats20.
- Use user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) to watch user actions and mark odd ones21.
- Put in data loss prevention (DLP) software to catch and stop data breaches or leaks21.
- Keep updating your insider threat management plan to meet new security needs20.
By being proactive and taking many steps, you can keep your important assets safe. This helps keep your reputation strong and supports your business’s future21.
Conclusion
Insider threats are a big problem for companies of all sizes. They can lead to big losses in money23, harm a company’s good name23, and disrupt operations. This is true for the healthcare23, finance23, manufacturing23, aerospace and defense23, government, and education sectors23.
To fight insider threats, companies need a strong plan. This plan should include checking risks across the whole company, controlling who can access what, watching closely, and training employees well.
The Gurucul 2023 Insider Threat report shows that more companies faced insider attacks in 2022 than before, with 74% seeing more attacks24. Also, 60% of companies had at least one insider attack, and 25% faced over six attacks24.
It’s important for companies to stay alert and act fast to keep their business safe and strong. They should check the backgrounds of employees, contractors, and partners carefully before giving them access to important data and systems24.
By focusing on stopping insider threats, companies can protect their data, reputation, and work. This helps them succeed over time, even with the challenges of23 cybersecurity.
FAQ
What is an insider threat?
An insider threat is a risk from people inside a company. This includes employees, partners, or contractors with access to sensitive info. They can cause harm by accident or on purpose.
What are the main types of insider threats?
There are three main types of insider threats. Malicious insiders act on purpose for revenge or money. Non-malicious insiders might cause problems by mistake or carelessness. Compromised insiders have their info stolen by others, who then use it for bad things.
What are the potential impacts of insider threats?
Insider threats can really hurt a company’s wallet and reputation. They lead to big data breaches, costing about .90 million on average. These threats expose a lot of data, causing big fines and damage to a company’s image.
What are the key components of effective insider threat management?
Managing insider threats well needs risk assessment, clear rules, training, and good detection. Also, having a plan for when something goes wrong is key.
How can organizations perform an enterprise-wide risk assessment to prevent insider threats?
To stop insider threats, start with a risk assessment across the whole company. This means finding out what’s important, seeing how easy it is to get to, and checking who has access. It’s also about finding weak spots and thinking about the worst-case scenarios.
What software solutions can organizations use to mitigate insider threats?
To fight insider threats, companies can use software. This includes tools for watching and controlling access, stopping data loss, and keeping an eye on user behavior. Encryption and systems for managing who can do what are also helpful.
Why is it important to implement strong access controls?
Strong access controls are key to fighting insider threats. They make sure people only get to see what they need to see. It’s important to check who has access often to stop people getting too much power.
How can organizations regularly monitor activities to detect unauthorized actions?
Watching what’s happening all the time is important. This means looking at logs to spot strange or wrong actions. Using a system to manage security alerts helps catch insider threats early. Keeping logs for a long time makes it easier to figure out what happened in the past.
Why is employee security awareness training important for mitigating insider threats?
Teaching employees about security is key. It helps them use their access right and know the risks. Good training makes them spot and report insider threats, making the company safer.
