The vast majority (76%) of companies dealt with insider threats in 2024, up 10% from 2019. The totals have been climbing in large part due to the rise of hybrid offices and the continued expansion of IT ecosystem—trends unlikely to stop anytime soon.
As attacks from the inside become more common, more destructive, and more difficult to stop, managing insider threats becomes a top priority.
Companies must be proactive rather than reactive in detecting insider threats and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information by employees. This article will explain how and why.
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What Are Insider Threats?
Insider threats are people who put IT, data, and business continuity at risk from inside your organization, whether accidentally or intentionally.
Traditionally, cyber attacks are started by outsiders and begin on the exterior of the attack surface before working inside to infiltrate sensitive assets. With insider threats, it’s just the opposite.
Take a disgruntled employee as an example.
They already have access to systems and data, so if they want to harm the organization, they can steal, change, or delete files with little to stop them.
Cybersecurity usually looks outward not inward, and it’s focused on attackers not employees, making insider threat prevention a unique yet urgent challenge.
Types Of Insider Threats
You can only mitigate and prevent insider threats and avoid the substantial cost of a data breach by first understanding the different types:
- Malicious Insiders: People who intended to hurt the company for financial, ideological, or personal reasons by compromising IT on purpose.
- Negligent Insiders: Employees who accidentally or unintentionally cause cyber incidents, such as employees who fall victim to social engineering attacks and wire money to a bogus bank account.
- Compromised Insiders: Credentials that have been stolen from employees and used by attackers to gain privileged access without looking suspicious or setting off alerts.
- Temporary Employees: Contractors and temporary employees have little IT training or company loyalty but still have access to IT systems, making them a common source of incidents caused by insiders.
- Vendors and Partners: Much like employees, third parties can accidentally or intentionally be the cause of a data breach, or be weaponized by hackers to steal data and carry out malicious activities.
Most Common Type Of Insider Threat
A LinkedIn poll of cybersecurity professionals conducted by PurpleSec’s CEO, Jason Firch, reveals that human error is the most likely cause that leads to a breach:
Developing A Comprehensive Program To Prevent Insider Threats
Insider threats are present in all organizations, and they never go away entirely, so managing insider threats must be a continuous effort. You can help reduce technology-associated insider threats by developing a comprehensive cybersecurity program or by working with a service provider who manages a program on your behalf:
1. Conduct A Security Risk Assessment
Insider threat prevention starts with conducting a security risk assessment.
- Identify critical IT and sensitive data assets, and catalog their vulnerabilities.
- Review security measures and policies, paying particular attention to who “owns” the security controls.
- Use the discoveries to rank and prioritize your biggest risks.
- Then pinpoint the insiders who are adjacent or relevant to those privileged assets.
It helps to choose a cybersecurity framework like CIS 18 or NIST CSF to illustrate how to prevent insider threats and guide how to conduct a security risk assessment. Even better, outsourcing to a cybersecurity partner or provider of vCISO services ensures a thorough assessment.
2. Create Overarching Cybersecurity Policies
Managing insider threats takes a multi-pronged approach, including cybersecurity policies to discourage these threats from becoming incidents.
All policies help with insider threat prevention, but several are essential:
- Acceptable use policy.
- Data classification and handling policy.
- Incident response security policy.
- Network security policies.
Take advantage of these cybersecurity policy templates, or get help following them.
With all policies, provide staff with the necessary education and training. Policies also need to be reviewed and updated as insider threat protection evolves. A disconnect between policies and the employees they apply to can make a security problem worse.
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3. Create An Incident Response Plan
The high risk of insider threats makes an incident response plan essential, especially one with provisions for insider threat protection.
At a minimum, it should define roles and responsibilities, establish clear escalation procedures, and create communication protocols for different stakeholders.
Provisions relevant to insider threat prevention include when to contact law enforcement, how to address insider threats who may be on the IR team, what to do when employees get threatened, and more. Again, enlisting a third party makes it easier to determine how to mitigate insider threats with the right incident response plan.
4. Implement Strong Access Controls To Mitigate Insider Risks
Dictating who can access what systems and data under which circumstances help prevent insider threats by keeping anyone with malicious intent away from sensitive information and apps.
Strong access controls must leverage the benefits of MFA and mandate two-factor authentication wherever possible to help prevent insider threats, especially compromised and negligent insiders.
Insider threat best practices also advise following the principle of least privilege, wherein users only have access to what they need.
Role-based access controls make least privilege enforceable and scalable; it’s one of the best ways to mitigate insider risk and prevent incidents.
5. Detect Insider Threats Through Continuous Monitoring
Insider threats take many forms, and malicious behavior comes from countless sources, making it essential to detect suspicious activity on the widest scale possible.
Continuous security monitoring employs user and entity behavior analytics, network scanning, and other tools to detect the earliest signs of insider threats, and data loss prevention tools to prevent incidents.
For a dynamic, non-stop threat like insider threats, continuous monitoring is a must.
The challenge is extending detection capabilities to all corners of the attack surface and to be ready to respond 24/7/365. Continuous security monitoring can be very resource-intensive.
One solution is managed XDR services, where expert security providers use extended detection and response tools for detecting and preventing insider threats.
6. Implement Security Awareness Training & Testing
Employees are also the best defense against insider threats. Comprehensive security awareness training makes people less likely to fall prey to malicious phishing campaigns, more aware of sensitive IT and data, and more alert to possible insider threats around them.
Everyone should receive cybersecurity training based on their role, soon after hiring and then regularly after that.
Social engineering tests also play a role in reducing harm. Simulated phishing exercises give people real experience dealing with suspicious activity. Tabletop exercises help incident response teams practice their skills with insider threat protection.
Detecting and responding to unauthorized behavior improves when teams have frequent, dynamic, and challenging opportunities to test their cybersecurity skills.
7. Test Your Controls, Security Policies, And Procedures
Never assume that insider threat protection is working exactly as intended. Instead, test and evaluate security controls regularly to identify gaps, weaknesses, compliance risks, and opportunities for improvement.
Also, review if employees at all levels are following and enforcing security policies and procedures.
Testing has little impact unless it’s followed by systematic and continuous improvements. Create a formal process for making improvements based on the testing of behavior analytics or privileged information management, then put people in charge of that process.
This way, as the insider threat evolves, the cybersecurity response keeps pace.
Technology Solutions For Insider Threat Prevention
Multiple tools help to detect suspicious or malicious behavior, but their real power comes from working in concert to defend sensitive information, such as with an XDR solution.
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): This tool helps with the detection of suspicious activities by collecting, organizing, and analyzing high-volume security data.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): This tool monitors endpoints (laptops, servers, etc). for malicious red flags, then orchestrates the response to stop the attack.
- Network Segmentation: This tool separates networks into isolated entities so insider threats that corrupt one network cannot steal sensitive information or cause harm to another.
Privileged Access Management: This tool manages which employees and contractors can access privileged assets with what permissions to keep unauthorized users out.
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Best Practices For Mitigating Insider Threats
How can companies reduce insider threats? By recognizing that it’s a human and technical problem, and applying insider threat best practices to both:
- Background Checks and Vetting: Lower the odds of hiring insider threats by vetting candidates using criminal record checks, employee history verification, and credit checks for sensitive positions. Decide in advance what is and isn’t an acceptable security risk.
- Secure Offboarding Process: Keep former employees from becoming insider threats by immediately revoking their access, running data return and deletion procedures, and conducting exit interviews for security insights. Create the process, the follow it consistently.
- Third-Party Vendor Management: Mitigate risks posed by contractors and vendors by conducting a vendor risk assessment, stipulating contractual security requirements, and relying on ongoing security monitoring and compliance auditing.
- Regular Security Audits And Assessments: Avoid a weakening of the security posture by conducting at least annual program reviews and assessments, supplemented by more in-depth assessments like penetration testing services or social engineering testing services.
- Shift the Culture: Create a cybersecurity-aware culture that discourages insider threats by providing ongoing cybersecurity education and awareness training, encouraging reporting of suspicious behavior, leading by example, and using positive reinforcement for security compliance.
Responding to and Learning From Insider Incidents
As many as 71% of companies experienced 21-40 cyber incidents in 2023 alone. Organizations must try to prevent insider threats all the time—yet they must be prepared to respond to these incidents anytime and learn from them every time. Follow these steps:
Step 1: Immediate Containment
Start by suspending access to all accounts, privileged or not, to prevent further theft. Put evidence-preservation methods in place, both to hold the offending parties accountable and to prevent the same kind of malicious behavior in the future.
Finally, institute communication protocols to keep security and risk management stakeholders informed without exacerbating the insider risk.
Step 2: Investigation Process
Triage the incident and determine the exact scope of the damage. Follow digital forensic best practices, which provide valuable guidance for making sense of dense and dynamic incidents where insiders are involved.
For instance, use interview techniques designed for insiders to avoid leaking sensitive information or leaving the investigation compromised.
Step 3: Legal And Compliance Issues
Get ahead of legal and compliance issues, which are both a greater risk when insider threats are involved, by first reviewing the relevant data protection laws and reporting requirements with the aid of legal counsel.
Employee privacy considerations are also important to prevent a cybersecurity incident from having broader implications.
Step 4: Program Improvement
Every incident reveals areas for improvement provided a post-incident review process is conducted. Use the process to identify and address the root causes. Then update security policies and procedures based on the lessons learned, and either expand, integrate, or improve tools for things like behavior analytics or privileged access management.
Learn More: How To Improve Cybersecurity: Best Practices For Small Businesses
How PurpleSec Helps Small Businesses Prevent Insider Threats
PurpleSec brings enterprise-level cybersecurity to SMBs, with a strong focus on mitigating insider threats. Our flagship service, Defiance XDR™, offers comprehensive, fully managed security that adapts to emerging threats, including those originating from within your organization.
Defiance XDR™ uses advanced User Behavior Analytics to quickly identify anomalous activities indicating potential insider threats. Our solution implements strict Privileged Access Management controls and can integrate with your Data Loss Prevention capabilities to prevent unauthorized data exfiltration.
Real-time monitoring of all network activities allows for immediate detection and response to potential insider threats, minimizing the risk of data breaches or system compromises.
We work with you to develop and implement security policies that address your specific insider threat concerns while maintaining operational efficiency.
Our subscription model makes this enterprise-grade security accessible and affordable, allowing you to focus on business growth while we handle the complexities of cybersecurity. PurpleSec’s solution provides the tools and expertise needed to effectively detect, prevent, and respond to insider threats, whether from malicious insiders, negligent employees, or compromised credentials.
$50/MO PER DEVICE
Enterprise Security Built For Small Business
Make cybersecurity simple. Defiance XDR™ is a holistic, turnkey, and fully managed security solution delivered in one affordable subscription plan.
Conclusion
Since insider threats fly under the radar, they are harder to detect and deter—which helps explain why they’re becoming more common and risky.
Managing insider threats takes a holistic combination of access controls, employee policies, security audits, authentication measures, and more. It’s challenging for any company. And for many, it’s more than they can handle on their own.
Become more secure against insider threats and other kinds of cyber attacks by addressing insider risk head-on. Contact PurpleSec for a complete solution.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Monitor For Insider Threats?
With continuous monitoring and behavior analytics focused on privileged assets organization-wide.
What Is The Most Common Form Of Insider Threat?
Employees that cause incidents through accidents or negligence.
What Are The Tactics Used By Insider Threats?
Use their authentication to exploit access controls and evade detection.
What Is A Counter-Insider Threat?
A security professional who specifically defends against insider threats and sabotage.
Article by
Joshua is a diversely-skilled cybersecurity professional with over a decade of cybersecurity experience previously working for the Department of Defense.
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