INSIDER THREAT
Why is it important to know that you have an insider threat problem? Insiders have knowledge of the organisation. This knowledge can be used directly by the insiders themselves or can cause them to become a target. Many organisations aim to protect themselves against ransomware, which is a serious threat, and an insider can be the driving force behind a ransomware attack. A successful ransomware attack can have a huge direct impact on operations, which makes it, indisputably, one of the biggest threats of all. The insider threat is growing and can be an enabler for more sophisticated attacks. Another aspect to consider is the value of the
proprietary information that keeps the organisation alive. Beyond the fact that regular data breaches are increasingly caused by insiders, you should consider the threat to competitive advantage, reputation and compliance.
Types of insider threats From a cyber-security perspective, there are a myriad of examples of threats. For the purpose of this article, we will consider three categories: : people who take advantage
of their access to inflict harm on an organisation; : people who make errors
and disregard policies that place their organisations at risk; : external actors who obtain legitimate access credentials without authorisation. Some people will refer to this as impersonation.
Insider technology risk building blocks Managing an insider threat is certainly a challenge. However, many of the existing security components (see the figure below)
within organisations can be leveraged to start an insider threat management programme. Identifying the different pillars of the insider
threat programme is certainly a good starting point. Formal collaboration between the different pillars should be established quickly, with the purpose of creating a common and unified view of the insider threat within the organisation. Without a unified view of the insider threat, it is very likely that many cases will go undetected. Data analysis capabilities can help, but aligning the different building blocks should be a priority. Any insider threat programme should also
quickly establish a sophisticated framework to understand how well the organisation is addressing the threat while reducing any gaps in security. Targeted organisations will face multiple challenges. It is easy to focus on technological solutions to solve most problems. However, to successfully tackle the problem of insider threat, it will be important to look beyond the obvious.
Blind spots in insider threats Maintaining a good level of cyber security has been, and continues to be, a challenge. In this section. We look at some key indirect challenges that can easily be overlooked and yet have a knock-on effect on other challenges.
People who tend to fall into the category of malicious insider are those who have shifted from good and acceptable behaviour to intending to cause some kind of harm to the company. The motives behind such changes are generally unclear and difficult to determine but can be mapped to a form of grievance against
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