Security.com

insider threat

By Andrew Froehlich

What is an insider threat?

An insider threat is a category of risk posed by those who have access to an organization's physical or digital assets. These insiders can be current employees, former employees, contractors, vendors or business partners who all have -- or had -- authorized access to an organization's network and computer systems.

The consequences of a successful insider threat can take a variety of forms, including a data breach, fraud, theft of trade secrets or intellectual property, and sabotage of security measures.

What are the different types of insider threats?

Insider threats are defined by the role of the person who introduces the threat. The following are examples of potential insider threats:

Why are insider threats dangerous?

Insider threats can be hard to detect, even using advanced security threat detection tools. This is likely due to the fact that an insider threat typically doesn't reveal itself until the moment of attack.

Also, because the malicious actor looks like a legitimate user, it can be difficult to distinguish between normal behavior and suspicious activity in the days, weeks and months leading up to an attack. With authenticated access to sensitive information, the insider exploit might not be apparent until the data is gone.

With few safeguards preventing someone with legitimate access from absconding with valuable information, this type of data breach can be one of the costliest to endure.

The "2022 Cost of Insider Threats Global Report," a study produced by Ponemon Institute with Proofpoint sponsorship, noted that insider threat incidents have risen 44% over the past two years, with costs per incident up more than a third to $15.4 million. The report also noted that the time to contain an insider threat incident increased from 77 days to 85 days, leading organizations to spend the most on containment.

Who are the insiders?

The following are a few real-world examples of insider threats:

What are the warning signs that could indicate an insider threat?

To build awareness and improve detection of insider threats, the following common signs could indicate the presence of inappropriate insider activity in an organization:

How can you defend against insider threats?

The Ponemon/Proofpoint report identified areas where modern organizations may be exposing themselves to insider threat incidents:

To fill these gaps, there are two main paths forward:

  1. Awareness and training program implementation. Employees should be properly trained on potential security risks so that they understand how to use the organization's systems safely and securely. Security teams should specifically be trained on insider threat detection. Doing so can help them to better spot suspicious activity and prevent data loss or damage from insider attacks before they occur.
  2. Detection and prevention security measures. In addition to improving employee training and awareness, most organizations have begun implementing insider threat programs that incorporate insider threat mitigation through detection, as well as prevention. This can be accomplished through compliance, security best practices and continuous monitoring.

Many cybersecurity tools can scan and monitor functionality to discover threats such as spyware, viruses and malware, as well as provide user behavior analytics.

Security controls can also be implemented to protect your data sources. Examples include encryption for data at rest, routine backups, scheduled maintenance and enforced two-factor authentication for password fortification.

In addition, identity management tools often automate user access revocation when an employee is terminated. These tools also provide greater control over what your employees have access to so access to sensitive data sources can be limited.

Insider threat detection and prevention

Organizations can take the following steps to protect their data sources:

  1. Protect your sensitive data and systems. There are several methods that can help protect a company's data and critical systems. Investing in data loss prevention tools is one option, but also consider data classification, vendor management, and other risk management and security policies that can better prevent data breaches.
  2. Implement behavioral analytics and employee tracking. As mentioned above, insider threats can be difficult to uncover using manual processes alone. Sophisticated tracking tools, like user and entity behavior analytics, and network detection and response platforms use artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect even minimal changes in patterns that humans may not see.
  3. Reduce the attack surface through continuous monitoring. Continuous monitoring tools and attack surface management (ASM) help by constantly scanning computing systems and networks, taking an inventory of vulnerabilities, prioritizing them and sending user alerts when action is required.
  4. Patch vulnerabilities. As new vulnerabilities are found, either through continuous monitoring, ASM tools or vendor notifications, patch systems immediately. The holes in your defenses are the perfect opportunity for external threats to gain a foothold in your ecosystem.

For additional detail on preventing insider threats, read about 10 ways to prevent computer security threats from insiders.

22 Jul 2022

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