Your employees may not fully grasp how their actions expose your business to various security risks. It’s crucial to be aware of the most common insider threats and learn how to effectively mitigate them using best practices.
Understanding Insider Threats
Before delving into mitigation strategies, let’s first define insider threats. These threats originate from current employees, former employees, corporate partners, and contracted individuals who have access to sensitive information related to your business. Any non-compliance or intentional misconduct on their part can expose your organization to severe security risks.
Insiders can engage in activities such as spying, violating privacy, disabling security tools, wasting resources, or engaging in unauthorized spending. These offenses are alarmingly prevalent, and FBI security specialists have classified them accordingly.
Personal Motivations
The motivations behind insider threats can be categorized into several primary factors. These include:
- Financial gain: Some individuals are driven by the belief that money equates to power. They may have urgent needs to cover debts or indulge in excessive spending.
- Revenge: Disgruntled employees seek vengeance against the company due to dissatisfaction caused by conflicts with colleagues or management, tedious work, or the threat of dismissal.
- Negative experiences: Certain individuals resort to insider threats as a result of poor experiences, such as conflicts with colleagues or management, monotonous work, or the fear of losing their jobs.
- Vanity issues: Some employees break the rules to establish themselves as unique or to improve their self-image. They may seek admiration from others or aspire to attain higher positions within the company.
- Addiction and social issues: Various addictions, including substance abuse, or personal problems, such as relationship issues, can drive individuals to engage in insider threats.
Corporate Motivations
Insider threats can also stem from corporate motivations, including:
- Unsatisfactory handling of sensitive business information: The availability and handling conditions of secret business information may not be strictly defined, allowing individuals who do not require access to obtain it.
- Inadequate marking of restricted access data: Failure to properly mark restricted access data can result in unauthorized individuals gaining access to it.
- Retention of restricted access data by former employees: Individuals who leave the company, both online and offline, may retain restricted access data and materials without authorization.
- Improper use and disclosure of restricted access data: Remote processing of restricted access data without clear limitations on its use and disclosure can lead to security breaches.
- Lack of instructions and training on handling restricted access data: Employees should receive proper training and clear guidelines on how to handle restricted access data.
Types of Insider Threats
Observers generally classify insider threats into two main categories: those resulting from malicious intent and those resulting from neglect or non-compliance. However, a more detailed classification divides insider threats into four categories based on the type of actors involved:
- Abnormal users: Also known as “pawns,” these individuals unknowingly engage in malicious activities as they fall victim to phishing attacks or computer viruses sent via email. They may download malware or provide their login information to strangers without verifying their legitimacy, making them easy targets for hackers.
- No-ordinary, goofy users: These users believe they can bypass requirements and rules, often breaking them out of convenience or incompetence. They may also engage in rule-breaking simply for fun.
- Secret agents: Collaborators who use their insider status to access and compromise sensitive information within their organization. These individuals act on behalf of a third party, such as foreign governments involved in intelligence gathering or competitors seeking to undermine your operations.
- Sole attackers: These insiders may not have explicit collaboration with any third party, but they can pose a significant threat to your business if they have high-level access to company resources. As database or computer system administrators, they are capable of causing significant damage.
Recognizing Insider Threat Indicators
Here are some common signs of potential insider threats:
- Unauthorized copying of materials, especially if they are proprietary or classified
- Remote network access by employees without a specific need, especially during vacation, sick leave, or at odd hours
- Employees disregarding company computer policies by installing unauthorized software or hardware, accessing restricted websites, conducting unauthorized searches, or downloading confidential information
- Unreported contact or travel involving foreign officials or intelligence officers
- Unexplained affluence, where an employee purchases items beyond their means
- Employee interest in matters unrelated to their business duties
Real-Life Insider Threat Cases
The following well-known insider threat cases demonstrate the potential consequences of such threats:
1. Microsoft Database Goes Public: In late 2019, an immense number of Microsoft support records, approximately 250 million entries collected over 14 years, became public. Attackers gained access to IPs, locations, and remarks made by Microsoft support staff. The database was left unprotected due to the failure to implement password protection or multi-factor authentication. Fortunately, no personal information was compromised, and Microsoft resolved the issue promptly.
2. Marriott Data Breach: In 2020, Marriott experienced a data breach resulting from the theft of credentials belonging to two employees. Hackers used these credentials to access a third-party app that managed their corporate data, including reservation information, customer contact details, and account data. The incident went undetected for months, and the stolen data exposed sensitive personal information. Fines for Marriott are pending as the company has faced penalties for security negligence in the past.
3. Twitter Hack: In July 2020, cybercriminals compromised approximately 130 Twitter accounts, including those of high-profile individuals and corporations such as Apple, Uber, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama. The attackers used a highly targeted phishing campaign that initially targeted Twitter employees working remotely. By gaining access to employee accounts, the attackers reset the passwords of notable Twitter users and conducted Bitcoin-based scams. Twitter suffered significant financial losses and reputation damage.
These real-life cases highlight the importance of effective insider threat mitigation strategies.
Best Practices for Insider Threat Mitigation
Mitigating insider threats requires a comprehensive approach. Here are some key practices to consider:
1. Secure Essential Corporate Assets
Protecting both tangible and intangible corporate assets is paramount. Implement a defense-in-depth strategy and develop an incident response plan. Utilize advanced technology solutions, such as URL filters to block malicious access attempts, vulnerability management tools to identify and fix security flaws, and robust antivirus software to detect and disable malware. Properly manage user privileges and access rights, and ensure software control, scam prevention, and email security measures are in place.
2. Ensure SOP Implementation and Compliance
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) play a crucial role in enabling employees to understand their responsibilities, especially regarding security procedures and intellectual property. Implement adequate training programs to ensure SOP compliance and reinforce the importance of maintaining strict adherence to security policies.
3. Track and Investigate Unusual or Suspicious Events
Maintain constant vigilance by monitoring and investigating any unusual or suspicious activities, even if they appear harmless. Pay attention to indicators such as unauthorized access attempts, unrecognized locations, or abnormal data transfers within your IT systems.
4. Manage Employee Transitions
Develop a post-employment routine to handle employee departures effectively. Document the employee termination process thoroughly and promptly terminate access to company resources, including facilities and software. It is recommended to terminate access to various systems on the day of dismissal.
Conclusion: Safeguarding Your Business against Insider Threats
Insider threats pose significant risks to network security. Employees, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can severely impact your company’s reputation, performance, and assets. Remaining vigilant and minimizing insider threats is essential for ensuring the overall IT security of your business.
Implementing effective security measures can be a complex and resource-intensive task, which is why many companies opt to subscribe to trusted third-party security providers offering personnel security training services.
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