Is insider activity or outsider activity a bigger enterprise threat?

To continue reading for free, register below or login

Requires Membership to View

To gain access to this and all member only content, please provide the following information (all fields required):

First Name:
Last Name:
Country: Select... Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Man, Isle of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Email Address:

Do you manage, evaluate, recommend, implement, support or purchase security products, software or services?
YesNo

Please estimate the yearly security budget for your entire organization including all security products and services.
Please select... Over $10 Million $5 Million-$10 Million $1 Million-$4.9 Million $500,000-$999,999 $100,000-$499,999 $50,000-$99,999 $25,000-$49,999 $10,000-$24,999 Less than $10,000 None

What is your role in purchasing IT related products and services? (Check all that apply)
Technical decision maker
Financial decision maker
Recommend/Specify
Evaluate products
Implement Products/Services
Determine Needs
Create Security Strategy
None

By joining SearchSecurity.com you agree to receive email updates from the TechTarget network of sites, including updates on new content, magazine or event notifications, new site launches and market research surveys. Please verify all information and selections above. You may unsubscribe at any time from one or more of the services you have selected by editing your profile or unsubscribing via email.

TechTarget cares about your privacy. Read our Privacy Policy

BROWSE BY TAG Expert Archive: Security Management,   Enterprise Data Protection,   Identity Theft and Data Security Breaches,   Security Awareness Training and Internal Threats,   Information Security Management,   VIEW ALL TAGS

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Expert Archive: Security Management What is the GISP certification and how does it compare to the CISSP certification? Using a QSA to write up a PCI DSS report on compliance (ROC) How can gap analysis be applied to the security SDLC? Comparing low-cost security appliances to bigger, pricier appliances What are some tips on protecting my security budget in a poor economy? What value do research firms provide to their subscribing enterprises? What certificate offers the best ROI for an IT project manager? How does information security prevent fraud in the enterprise? Differences between an SAS 70 data center and a Tier III data center What does the future of the endpoint encryption market look like? Identity Theft and Data Security Breaches Researchers predict SSNs, crack algorithm putting identities at risk TJX to pay $9.75 million for data breach investigations Man pleads guilty in online banking hacking scam White House cybersecurity czar faces major hurdles Heartland breach cost $12.6 million, CEO says An inside look at security log management forensics investigations LexisNexis investigates breach, notifies thousands Senators hear call for federal cybersecurity restructuring Former Federal Reserve Bank employee arrested Attackers cash in on fundamental data handling mistakes, Verizon finds Security Awareness Training and Internal Threats Twitter risks, Facebook threats trouble security pros Social engineering training could disrupt botnet growth How to write a risk methodology that blends business, security needs Risk management must include physical-logical security convergence Tabletop exercises sharpen security and business continuity Security policies need simplifying, expert says Microsoft IE 8 security only benefits educated users Security book chapter: The Truth About Identity Theft How to integrate the security of both physical and virtual machines Laid off workers likely to steal company data, survey warns

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary bot worm  (SearchSecurity.com) CISP-PCI  (SearchFinancialSecurity.com) cookie poisoning  (SearchSecurity.com) drive-by pharming  (SearchSecurity.com) extrusion prevention  (SearchSecurity.com) identity theft  (SearchSecurity.com) parameter tampering  (SearchSecurity.com) pretexting  (SearchCIO.com) Rock Phish  (SearchSecurity.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

Don't read too much into the data that Verizon released early this year. There were some interesting aspects of the study, but it's important not to draw generic conclusions. (There aren't many generic environments, so trying to use generic data to make decisions is pretty dangerous.)

The distinction between insiders and outsiders isn't very useful. Security pros just shouldn't trust anyone. Proper controls must be in place to protect data from both internal and external attack vectors. Whether the right number is 73% or 27% doesn't matter if an insider has created a breach. Or an outsider, for that matter.

Reading deeper into the Verizon report (pdf), it's clear that many of the breaches could have been avoided by updating devices on a timely basis and making sure configurations were locked down. Again, both of these issues are pretty simple security practices. People should focus on protecting important data rather than making artificial delineations between insiders and outsiders.

The last point is that Verizon's data set is skewed toward outsiders. Many insider attacks are never reported, nor do they bring in fancy forensic investigators (like Verizon) to clean up the mess. Yet, when the breach happens from outside, organizations usually have to disclose and tend to bring in outside experts.

Verizon's study definitely has value; it's opened up the eyes of a lot of people. But it's important to put it in the proper frame of reference and make sure to draw the right conclusions.

More information:

• Employee profiling: Learn more about this proactive defense against insider threats.
• Read about the benefits of employee security awareness training.