Padlocked

What are Insider Threats?
Insider threats are risks in cybersecurity that originate from inside organisations. This comes in the form of employees (currently or formerly employed) or people that have direct access to the network, intellectual property and knowledge of the business processes of companies.

Types of Insider Threats
There are two main types of insider threats: malicious and negligent. Malicious insider threats are planned events planned by disgruntled or compromised employees targeting the company. These threats usually involve tampering with confidential data, misusing system access and altering environments to remain undetected in the network. Negligent insider threats are caused by human error, carelessness or manipulation, and commonly occur due to accidentally leaking important information.

Who are at risk to Insider Threats?
Any organisation can fall victim to insider threats, and the main targets to such threats are ones that possess customer data, intellectual property or trade secrets in large quantities. With this knowledge, industries more susceptible to insider threats include financial services like banks and credit unions, insurance companies, healthcare institutions including hospitals, and government agencies.

Preventing Insider Threats
As traditional security measures cannot detect actions from insiders, procedures must be put in place to protect themselves from risk. There are, therefore, several methods that can be used to protect against insider threats:

• Training Employees: Employees are the foundation of your security. They must follow hygiene practices effectively, such as strong password practices and being aware of attacks like phishing.
• Updating Software: As hackers are constantly surveying for openings to exploit, updating software will reduce the likelihood of well-known, exposed vulnerabilities to breach systems with.
• Monitor for Malicious Activities: Creating a strong basis for detecting and responding to monitor the likes of servers and endpoints will be beneficial to detecting threats, both seen and unseen.
• Integrate Threat Intelligence: Real-time monitoring and keeping up with standards in threat intelligence to improve network security will help in protecting systems, helping to prevent it from spreading in the events of an attack.