Insider threats are a significant concern for organizations regardless of size. Many businesses are losing millions of dollars annually due to these types of attacks. Insider threats are signified by users that have legitimate access to your systems, such as employees, contractors, etc. Employees in an organization remain the most prominent cybersecurity issue of any organization.
In Ponemon Institute’s 2020 Cost of Insider Threats report, it was discovered that in 2019 negligence on the parts of employees and contractors constituted 63% of insider threats in many organizations.
As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, organizations desire to stay abreast of proactive strategies that can reduce the risk in the work environment.
Businesses are often caught in the middle when trying to curtail the problem that insider threats have introduced. Not all insider threats are created equally. Some are due to negligence, not malicious intent. While others result from hackers gaining access to legitimate user credentials. Others are bad actors or disgruntled employees that the company thought could be trusted.
Having sensitive information can make it very easy for the insider to carry out their malicious actions because they can mask their intention for a long time without being detected. If the attack is successful, the business may lose money, data, customers, and even its public image.
Planning a mitigation tactic will help to curtail the insider threats at their earliest stage before it brings irreparable damage to the organization.
Here, we’ll discuss how companies can identify insider threats and the six tactics essential in mitigating them.
Interestingly, there are always glaring signs that your business is at risk of insider threats. Unfortunately, you may choose to turn a blind eye to these red flags. Some of them include:
Many organizations are less concerned about providing cybersecurity awareness training for employees. Since employees are not aware or informed about policies or laws that govern their organization, they may keep acting in ways that will affect the organization’s security.
When employees are enabled to work with their devices, there are greater chances of introducing risk into the organization’s network. Unfortunately, some employees may fail to upgrade and patch applications, exposing the organization to various threats.
Unsurprisingly, some employees would instead settle for the easy route than go through the right processes when it simplifies their tasks. As soon as you notice your employees disregarding your security policies, watch out for insider threats.
Employees can get in the habit of displaying a lackadaisical attitude towards work, such as lack of attention, negligence, and deliberate effort to boycott the company’s policies. Employees often want to save time and arrive at their results faster. To reduce these risks, it is necessary to introduce a cyber security-oriented approach to the organization and enforce it through regular training and by prioritizing cybersecurity in all processes.
The HR department and IT team must work together to detect malicious or suspicious activities of employees. With cybersecurity tools, monitoring risky behavior from employees can be automated. The HR department should also promptly communicate when employees leave or are fired so proper digital offboarding can happen to immediately revoke that person’s access to company data.
As a rule, business leaders must restrict the rights of employees to access essential data in the company. This means that employees should only have access to the information that concerns their role in the organization. When employees are prohibited from accessing the company’s resources or higher-level administrative functions, they will be less capable of causing any form of harm to the organization. The same is true for a hacker that breaches the employee’s password.
You should not allow your employees to operate inside your company network without supervision. Regardless of the position of employees, monitoring tools can help keep an eye on user activities and identify any anomalies or suspicious behavior. This may include a login outside normal work hours or the downloading of an unusually large number of files. This monitoring provides your administrators with alerts as soon as suspicious activity is detected.
Credential theft has now become the number one cause of data breaches globally. When a hacker can gain access to your accounts through a legitimate login, this constitutes an insider threat. To mitigate these, you must improve password security.
You can do this in a few ways:
Detecting insider threats at their earliest stage is the best way to mitigate the risk before any employee causes damage to the company. There are specific solutions that are essential in ensuring the detection of dangerous activities that go on in your network. Using AI and automation, your systems can detect and lock out users immediately that cross security boundaries.
Insider threat mitigation reduces the damage that businesses encounter due to cybersecurity issues. Using the right tactics can keep these risks at bay while protecting your business from harm.
Need a long-lasting solution to mitigate Insider threats for your Sudbury, North Bay, and across northern Ontario business? Contact us at (705) 222 8324 or reach us online.