The Overlooked Danger Within: Managing Insider Threats

When we think about cybersecurity, we think of malicious actors constantly devising new ways to breach our defenses. While this is critical, it’s equally important to understand that another menace can be sitting down the hall. The risk of insider attacks is significant and should not be overlooked.

These attacks have floored businesses of all sizes and in various industries, frequently with dire consequences. These incidents can range from simple acts of fraud or theft to complex acts of sabotage and can be acts of deliberate malfeasance, unwitting negligence, or lackadaisical carelessness. Either way, they lead to financial losses, legal wrangles, and loss of customer trust.

Insider threats are particularly tricky, as they hold an advantage over external ones. They can bypass physical and technical security measures like intrusion prevention systems, firewalls, and access controls. They have legitimate login credentials and are familiar with existing policies and safeguards—and, unfortunately, often aware of those that are poorly enforced and potentially exploitable.

Let’s take a closer look.

Separation Anxiety: A High-Risk Moment

Employee departures, whether voluntary or not, are a prime opportunity for data leakage. Staff members might be tempted to take sensitive information with them, such as client lists, contracts, or proprietary roadmaps, thinking it could benefit them in future roles.

To prevent this, HR teams must include a thorough review of the employee’s activity over the past 60 to 90 days as part of the exit process. This helps raise any red flags, such as someone suddenly downloading or sharing of sensitive files.

HR and IT departments should work together to ensure access permissions are promptly revoked upon an employee’s departure. This limits the risk of unauthorized access to data and systems. Also, data loss prevention (DLP) solutions are useful tools for helping security teams monitor for unusual file transfers or downloads in the period leading up to the employee’s exit.

Gone But Not Forgotten: A Time for Vigilance

It’s not uncommon for entities to delay the deactivation of a former staff member’s credentials. This can happen for many reasons—pure logistics, time constraints, and the need to keep records temporarily on hand. However, an unambiguous policy on when and how to disable access must be put in place. An effective approach to consider is locking credentials temporarily before they are fully revoked, giving a little extra time for any security reviews.

Moreover, to prevent unauthorized access, consider implementing strict multi-factor authentication (MFA), as well as regular audits of active accounts. With these solutions, only current employees are able to access company resources, limiting the risk of malicious activity by disgruntled former employees who still have legitimate login credentials.

Welcome Aboard: Building a Foundation for Security

New employees who are finding their feet are particularly susceptible to making mistakes when handling data, as they’re not yet familiar with organizational protocols. An effective and robust onboarding process is at the core of instilling good security habits. Training should cover how the business handles data, the acceptable (and unacceptable) use of company resources, and best practices for managing sensitive company information.

Enforcing the principles of lease privilege and only granting new hires the access they strictly need for their specific roles is crucial, too. Taking these steps dramatically reduces the chances of accidental or malicious misuse of information. Likewise, conducting periodic access reviews is also a good idea, as it keeps privileges and accesses up to date as roles evolve.

Climbing the Corporate Ladder: An Often-Overlooked Risk

When an employee is promoted or moves to a different department, they may carry over old permissions that are no longer needed for their new role. Letting access rights accumulate unchecked can lead to unnecessary vulnerabilities. As roles change and people move, security teams need to regularly perform access audits to see that staff members don’t have more access than they need to do their jobs effectively.

A robust identity and access management (IAM) system can streamline this process, helping organizations monitor, adjust, and revoke permissions as roles change. By strictly aligning permissions with current job roles, entities can cut the risk that goes hand in hand with overextended access privileges.

Shifting Sentiments: The Canary in the Coal Mine

Sentiment shifts among employees need to be monitored, too. Staff evaluations can often be linked to changes in behavior, particularly when an employee feels undervalued or aggrieved. For instance, an individual who receives a poor performance review or is put on a performance improvement plan might feel frustrated and resentful, potentially increasing the risk of malicious activity. Similarly, people who are denied promotions or salary increases may experience similar feelings of pique, which could manifest in destructive or damaging behavioral changes.

Entities should be aware of these risk factors and overtones and think about putting extra monitoring measures in response. There is a caveat: it’s important to strike a balance between vigilance and trust; creating a Big Brother environment will erode morale and fuel distrust. Behavioral analytics tools are an effective solution, as they identify anomalous patterns in data access or system activity without being too invasive of employee privacy.

Addressing Insider Threats Holistically

Malicious insiders can be foiled, but doing so is not easy and requires a multi-pronged defense strategy made up of technical measures, employee training, and transparent policies and procedures.

Insider threats are a unique challenge given that they are no longer the ghost in the machine but the very real person in the next office. A proactive strategy that combines employee training, advanced technology, and a positive work culture helps entities build defenses that ensure no accidental or deliberate insider threats can slip through the cracks.

The result is a safer, more secure workplace where risks are systematically managed and mitigated.