Insiders (employees or partners) can hurt your business, and this is more serious than it seems. A report by Cybersecurity Insiders reveals that the percentage of organizations experiencing insider attacks rose from 66% in 2019 to 76% in 2024. Meanwhile, a report by the Ponemon Institute and Proofpoint highlights that nearly half of these incidents, 44%, are due to displeased employees messing with the organization's systems, tools, or apps.

What are Insider Threats?

Insiders are current or former employees, third-party contractors, or business partners who misuse their access to harm an organization. External partners like contractors or vendors can also pose significant risks.

These can take many forms:

• Malicious activity

• Negligent threats

• Opportunistic threats

• Accidental threats

It is crucial to address potential insider threats through appropriate measures and best practices to protect businesses from both accidental and malicious insiders.

Not all insiders act with malicious intent; some may unknowingly put the organization at risk due to oversight or lack of training.

Malicious insiders use their access to benefit personally or harm the organization intentionally. Negligent insiders may unintentionally create vulnerabilities, like clicking on a phishing link that grants unauthorized access. Understanding the context of users’ actions helps you understand their intent and motivation.

Insider Threats to Organizations

Financial loss from insider threats can be huge, from stolen funds to costly investigations and lawsuits. Techreport indicates that "the average cost of an insider threat situation in 2022 was $15.38 million."

The market value of a company can drop significantly due to insider threats, affecting investor perception and stock price. The operational disruption caused by insider threats can result in lower production capacity and lower product market share.

Beyond financial loss, insider threats can result in loss of competitive advantage if proprietary information is leaked to competitors. Intellectual property theft by insiders can result in the loss of valuable innovations and legal battles over ownership.

Also, insider threats can cause reputational damage, loss of customers, and fines for non-compliance. Overall, insider threats are big risks that can put an organization’s stability, profitability, and public trust at risk.

How to Mitigate Insider Threats

Organizations need a good insider threat mitigation program to protect against these threats. This program should be multi-layered, incorporating people, processes, and technology to manage insider threats and reduce exposure to potential risks. 

Developing an insider threat program is key to addressing insider threats and protecting confidential information and intellectual property.

Below are three key strategies to mitigate insider threats: employee training and awareness programs, strict access controls, and data protection measures. These three combined form a solid defense against insider threats and enhance the overall security of the organization.

Employee Training and Awareness Programs

Continuous training helps employees recognize and respond to insider threats. A good insider threat program with training and awareness initiatives covers all employees from entry-level to executives. 

There are many ways to deliver this training: online courses, in-person seminars, and printed materials. Bite-sized training at regular intervals can reinforce learning about insider threats.

Employees should know the organization’s data handling policies and security awareness protocols. Having clear communication channels for reporting insider threats can boost organizational awareness and response. 

Half of insider threats are from careless insiders, so effective employee training is key. Employees should know what data they can access and how it can be used to minimize risk.

Interactive training for employees who exhibit anomalous behavior can reinforce data handling protocols. Employees aware of the risks and know how to report suspicious activities reduce the likelihood of accidental insider threats.

Strict Access Controls

Access controls are key to protecting sensitive information from insider threats. Organizations should identify their assets and access permissions to mitigate insider threats. 

Multi-factor authentication reduces the chance of credential compromise, only authorized persons can access critical data. Strong passwords and thorough access control are key to protecting information.

Advanced technology tools are needed to monitor user activities and detect unusual behavior that may be insider threats. Tailored insider threat detection tools can respond to potential threats before they escalate. 

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools can prevent both malicious and accidental insider threats by enforcing data handling policies. DLP software can identify sensitive information and enforce data access.

Look into any red flags on unusual access activity. Strict access controls and advanced monitoring tools reduce insider threats and protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.

Data Protection Measures

Data protection measures are key to preventing access to critical company data. Strong access controls and DLP software can block sensitive information from being shared outside the organization. These measures can protect intellectual property, customer data, and other sensitive data from being compromised by insiders.

Implementing strict security policies and following data handling protocols boosts the overall security of the organization. Proactive data protection is part of an effective insider threat mitigation program and protects critical data from threats.

Insider Threat Response Plan

An insider threat response plan is critical to responding to and mitigating insider threats. An insider threat incident response plan should have steps for containment, investigation, and recovery. When an insider threat incident happens, quick action to investigate and contain the threat reduces damage.

Forensic evidence can help in insider threat investigations by adding screen capture and metadata. Effective insider threat detection systems provide alerts and detailed reports to facilitate timely investigation and response. Actions that can be taken in response to an insider threat incident are to revoke access, suspend or terminate employment, and contact law enforcement.

Security team collaboration is needed to correlate activities and alerts and determine the best course of action for insider threats. Security teams play a critical role in managing insider threats and enhancing incident investigation efficiency. 

They must navigate complexities due to insider threats, as these individuals already possess legitimate access and knowledge of sensitive data, making detection and prevention challenging. Legal consequences of insider threats include fines for non-compliance and the cost of litigation. Developing and maintaining an insider threat response plan is key to minimizing the impact of insider threats on the organization.

Using Technology for Insider Threat Detection

Insider threats can come from employees but also from external partners, contractors, and vendors with legitimate access. 

Technology is key to effective insider threat detection. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions aggregate and analyze security data to help detect insider threats in real-time. Entity behavior analytics (EBA) analyzes user activities and can flag anomalies that deviate from established patterns as potential risks.

Tools that provide real-time visibility into user activities help insider threat detection. These technologies can identify insider threats before they escalate, a proactive approach to insider threat prevention and mitigation.

Risky Users and Activities

Identifying risky users is important because insiders with legitimate access make it harder to detect malicious activities. Identifying risky users is part of insider threat mitigation. 

The process involves monitoring the observable behaviors of individuals to detect potential threats. Having a baseline of user activities allows you to detect deviations that may be risks.

Behavioral analysis is used to compare user activities against standard behavior to detect anomalies. Repeated access to restricted data can indicate a deliberate insider threat. 

Anomalies are compared to standard and expected behaviors. This includes user activities too. Monitoring for repeated access to restricted areas can be a sign of insider threat.

Behavior patterns like unusual file access or conflict with coworkers can be a sign of insider threats. Identifying and monitoring risky users and activities allows organizations to proactively manage insider threat risks.

Insider Threat Best Practices

Regular access control and user behavior audits can help detect insider threats early. Having a culture of transparency within the organization encourages employees to report suspicious activity without fear. Security team and HR collaboration is key to insider threat management.

Mature insider threat programs make the organization more resilient to disruptions. Insider threats can damage the organization’s professional reputation and often lead to a loss of customer trust and a decline in sales.

Implementing best practices for insider threat management helps organizations maintain a strong security posture and protect from within.

Insider Threat Management Solutions

Proofpoint’s Insider Threat Management is a converged DLP and ITM solution that detects and prevents insider threats on the endpoint in real-time. Proofpoint provides real-time, contextual visibility into user activity to prevent users from exfiltrating data through multiple channels like USB, web uploads, cloud sync, and print. 

The Application Control module of Proofpoint limits processes on workstations, while Heimdal’s Privileged Access Management allows administrators to elevate user rights, revoke escalations, and support zero-trust executions.

Proofpoint’s solutions are cloud-native, scalable and API-driven to meet privacy and compliance requirements. By using these advanced solutions, organizations can enhance their insider threat prevention and mitigation protect company data, and maintain a strong security posture.

FAQs

What are insider threats?

Insider threats are individuals (employees or contractors) who use their access to company data or systems to harm the organization. Security measures must be in place to mitigate this risk.

How do insider threats affect the organization?

Insider threats can cause financial loss, damage to reputation, disruption to operations, and data breaches. Organizations must have robust security measures in place to mitigate these risks.

How to mitigate insider threats?

To mitigate insider threats, prioritize employee training and awareness programs, strict access controls, and robust data protection. These will be your proactive defense against risks.

How can technology detect insider threats?

Technology can detect insider threats through SIEM and entity behavior analytics which provides real-time visibility into user activity. This allows organizations to detect unusual behavior and respond to potential threats.

What should be in an insider threat response plan?

Your insider threat response plan should include containment, investigation, recovery procedures, revocation of access privileges, and protocols for contacting law enforcement. These are the essential components.

Conclusion

In summary, insider threats are a big risk to organizations, financial stability, competitive advantage, and reputation. Understanding the types of insider threats and their impact is key to developing effective mitigation strategies. 

Key to mitigating insider threats is employee training and awareness programs, strict access controls, and data protection. Having an insider threat response plan and using technology to detect is also part of a robust insider threat management program.

By following best practices for insider threat management and using advanced solutions like Proofpoint’s Insider Threat Management, organizations can prevent and mitigate insider threats. Proactive protection against insider threats is key to organizational stability, profitability, and public trust.