When insiders have authorized system access, those credentials bypass certain security defenses designed to keep intruders out. A logged-in user doesn’t register as an intruder, so those security protections aren’t triggered.
We found three troubling statistics from a recent report by Ponemon Institute. These statistics illustrate the importance of addressing this threat. Insider attacks are rising in frequency, taking longer to detect and becoming more extensive.
This report found that over the last two years:
- Insider attacks increased by 44%
- Organizations take 85 days to contain an insider threat, compared to 77 days in 2020.
- The average expense of addressing insider threats has risen by 34%
Companies must understand what makes up an insider threat. Comprehending the threat offers the first step towards mitigation.
4 Types of Insider Threats
One reason that insider threats can be hard to detect is the difficulty of multiple types of threat. Employees, vendors, and hackers can all cause insider security breaches. Just to further complicate detection, some may be malicious and others accidental.
Here are the four main types of insider threats faced by company networks.
Malicious/Disgruntled Employee
A sales employee leaving the company could decide to take all their contacts with them. While it may not sound like much, it’s a malicious theft of company data.
A disgruntled employee may be upset with their manager who just fired them and decide to do the business harm. This theoretical employee could plant ransomware or cut a deal with a hacker to sell their login credentials for cash.
Careless/Negligent Employee
A significant number of insider threats are due to lazy or untrained employees. These people aren’t malicious, they don’t mean to cause a data breach. Good intentions don’t protect from accidentally sharing classified data on a non secure platform. For another example, they may use a friend’s computer to access their business apps. Problems happen when people remain completely unaware of the security consequences.
3rd Party with Access to Your Systems
Outsiders with authorized access to your network also present a very real concern. Contractors, freelancers, and vendors with authorized logins can all directly cause an insider breach risk.
Your company needs to ensure that these third parties are fully reviewed. There ought to be written policies and procedures in place for initial and ongoing review. Ensure these procedures are followed before you give them system access. Allowing your IT partner to review them for any data security concerns should, of course, be a part of the pre-determined procedures.
Hacker That Compromises a Password
Compromised login credentials represent one of the most dangerous types of insider threats. Login data stolen or sold has now become the #1 driver of data breaches around the world.
When a cybercriminal can access an employee’s login, that criminal registers an “insider” to your system. Your computer security reads them as the legitimate user.
Ways to Mitigate Insider Threats
Insider threats are frequently difficult to detect after the fact, at least until the consequences come crashing in. If you put mitigation measures in place before they’re needed you can stop them in their tracks. Staying proactive saves you from suffering a costly incident, one that you may not know about for months.
Here are some of the best tactics for reducing the risk of insider threats.
Thorough Background Checks
Whenever hiring a new employee, always perform a thorough background check. Malicious insiders typically show red flags in their work history. Of course, perform the same with any vendors or contractors with access to your systems.
Endpoint Device Solutions
Today, mobile devices make up about 60% of the endpoints within a company. Even with so many access points, many businesses don’t utilize a solution to manage device access to resources.
Put an endpoint management solution in place to continually monitor device access. You can also use this IT management solution to safelist devices and block unauthorized devices by default.
Multi-factor Authentication & Password Security
One of the best, most secure ways to fight credential theft is through multi-factor authentication. Hackers have a difficult time getting past the 2nd factor since they rarely have access to a person’s mobile device or FIDO security key.
Couple this powerful barrier with password security. Proper password security includes things like:
- Requiring strong passwords in your cloud apps
- Using a business password manager
- Requiring unique passwords for all logins
Employee Data Security Training
Training helps you mitigate the risk of a breach through carelessness. Train employees on proper data handling and security policies governing sensitive information. Studies have shown that IT security training needs to be done every six months to keep everyone in the company fresh and up to date.
Network Monitoring
Once someone has user access to your system, how can you catch them doing something wrong? Through intelligent network monitoring.
Your IT partners can help install AI-enabled threat monitoring. This cutting edge software allows you to detect strange behaviors as soon as they happen. For instance, someone downloading a large number of files would trigger red flags. Another red flag would be someone logging in from outside the country.
Why Is This Published By A Business Phone Company?
Here at NoContractVoIP, we believe that your success is our success. And, since we specialize in business communication, we also want to help you communicate better. We create the communication systems that modern companies need to adapt to the hybrid and remote business models. To get the latest helpful content delivered to your inbox every month, subscribe to our newsletter here.
Looking for the finest stress-free custom business telephone systems? Contact us or call today at 866-550-0005!