One of the most difficult types of attacks to detect are those performed by insiders. An “insider” would be anyone that has legitimate access to your company network and data. This would be via a login or other authorized connection.
Because insiders have authorized system access, they bypass certain security defenses. Such as those designed to keep intruders out. Since a logged-in user isn’t seen as an intruder, those security protections aren’t triggered.
There are three troubling statistics from a recent report by Ponemon Institute They illustrate the importance of addressing this threat. Insider attacks are getting worse, taking longer to detect and becoming more extensive.
The report found that over the last two years:
- Insider attacks have increased by 44%
- It takes organizations 85 days to contain an insider threat, compared to 77 days in 2020.
- The average cost of addressing insider threats has risen by 34%
It’s important for companies to understand what makes up an insider threat. That’s the first step towards mitigation.
4 Types of Insider Threats
One reason that insider threats can be hard to detect is that there is not just one kind. Employees, vendors, and hackers can all perpetrate insider security breaches. 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 that is leaving the company may decide to take all their contacts with them. This is a malicious theft of company data.
Another example of this type of insider attack is a disgruntled employee. They may be upset with their manager who just fired them and decide to do the business harm. They could plant ransomware or make a deal with a hacker to give over their login credentials for cash.
Careless/Negligent Employee
Some insider threats are due to lazy or untrained employees. They don’t mean to cause a data breach. But may accidentally share classified data on a non secure platform. Or they may use a friend’s computer to access their business apps. Being completely unaware of the security consequences.
3rd Party with Access to Your Systems
Outsiders with access to your network are also a very real concern. Contractors, freelancers, and vendors can all constitute an insider breach risk.
You need to ensure that these third parties are fully reviewed. Do this before you give them system access. You should also allow your IT partner to review them for any data security concerns.