Insider threats are often the most common causes of data breaches, because cybersecurity strategies, procedures, and systems often focus on external threats, leaving the organization vulnerable to these attacks.
But this is a big mistake, after all, malicious people have an advantage that attackers do not have, to their familiarity with systems, processes, procedures and policies.
As such, organizations need to treat insider threats with the same rigor as they deal with external threats. In fact, they are as harmful as any other form of attack.
What are insider threats?
An insider threat refers to a cybersecurity risk that originates within an organization, that is, caused by people who work or know the systems of that institution, which can be:
Current or former employee;
Supplier;
Service providers
Business partners.
These threats can be executed intentionally or unintentionally, either by misusing your access or by hijacking your accounts. However, regardless of the intention, the final result is always the same.
The compromise of the confidentiality and integrity of organizations' systems and data, which tends to be very harmful and triggers a series of consequences.
As much as external threats are more common and receive more investments and prominence, internal threats need to be part of cybersecurity planning.
That's because according to an IBM report, internal breaches, which include accidental or malicious actions by employees, can cost companies an average of $4.45 million per incident.
This figure includes costs for incident response, investigation, lost productivity, and reputational impact. After all, suffering a cyberattack involves numerous expenses.
In addition, a study by Fortinet highlighted that 41% of organizations faced exploits of vulnerabilities that remained unpatched for long periods, which shows the impact of internal security flaws.
Whether due to negligence or lack of adequate resources for patch and patch management. These numbers reinforce the importance of investing in awareness programs and internal cybersecurity policies.
What are the types of insider threats?
As much as insider threats refer to a cyber risk that originates within the organization when people with privileged access compromise, intentionally or not, the company's security.
Know that there are some types of threats that can be caused by several factors, and knowing them is essential for organizations to know how to protect themselves.
Malicious insider threats
These threats are usually from disgruntled current employees or even former employees who still have access to systems and information, they use their privileges to:
Steal sensitive data;
Corporate espionage;
Cause intentional harm;
Financial issues;
Revenge;
Competition.
Additionally, some of these people may work for malicious third parties, such as cybercriminals or even competitors, who utilize these employees to disrupt business operations, among other things.
Threats for negligence
Usually, in this case, people do not realize that they are a threat to the organization and accidentally compromise digital security.
Which can occur due to lack of knowledge, carelessness or not understanding the importance of cybersecurity.
As a result, people fall for phishing attacks, bypass security controls to save time, accidentally send sensitive information, or even take proper care of their devices.
Examples include sending sensitive information to the wrong person, failing to follow security policies, or using weak passwords, exposing the company to risks of cyberattacks, making them susceptible to intrusions.
Compromised insider threats
In the case of insider threats, people outside the organization manipulate or blackmail employees into performing malicious activities.
This type of threat can occur in different ways, such as through social engineering or even financial blackmail.
In this way, cybercriminals can approach vulnerable or disgruntled employees, offering compensation in exchange for information or access to systems.
In other cases, blackmail can be used to force these people to collaborate with criminals. For example, with the disclosure of sensitive personal information or extortion schemes, forcing them to collaborate with illegal activities.
How to combat insider threats?
Combating threats is not always an easy task, after all, these actions are carried out by people who work in the organization itself, which makes it difficult to understand and combat these attacks.
With this, it is very difficult to separate some indicators such as behaviors from threats, careless or malicious insiders, and actions and behaviors of ordinary employees.
Thus, to mitigate these risks, it is necessary to adopt a combination of policies, technologies, and training that allow you to identify, monitor, and prevent these incidents.
Access control policies
One of the best ways to prevent insider threats is to limit access to critical data and systems to only those who really need it. With this, organizations have greater control over these systems and are able to identify threats.
The principle of minimum access ensures that each person has only the level of permission necessary to perform their tasks. This reduces the likelihood that unauthorized people can access sensitive information or make compromising changes.
Additionally, it is important to periodically review these access privileges, especially after role changes or after employees leave.
It is also necessary to implement identity and access management with multifactor authentication (MFA), this measure reinforces security.
Monitoring and detection of suspicious behavior
Continuous monitoring of internal activities is crucial for detecting suspicious behavior that may indicate a threat. As a result, organizations are always on alert and keeping an eye on their employees.
A variety of tools can help you monitor data usage in real time and identify unusual activity, such as attempts to access information outside of normal working hours or transfers of large volumes of data.
In addition, User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) solutions use Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to analyze people's behavior and detect suspicious or unusual patterns.
All these actions are essential to mitigate the risks of insider threats, enabling a quick and efficient response so that teams can act before the damage occurs.
Ongoing training
Training people on security policies is essential to combat insider threats, they need to be introduced to topics such as:
Password hygiene;
Proper handling of data;
Report of lost devices;
How to recognize a phishing scam;
How to correctly route access requests;
Correct use of corporate tools.
This is because human error is one of the main factors that contribute to security failures in any organization.
This is because, even with advanced technologies and security policies, an inattentive or ill-informed person can unintentionally expose the company to risks.
Given this scenario, continuous education and awareness are essential to build a solid security culture, where people understand the importance of cybersecurity and their role in these actions.
Employees need to be educated and updated on the latest threats and security best practices.
After all, awareness is the first step to reducing human errors, because when people understand the consequences of their actions, they are more careful and adopt safe practices in the workplace.
The PhishX ecosystem in the fight against threats
PhishX is a complete ecosystem, specialized in cybersecurity. Our solutions help organizations prevent and mitigate risks associated with human error and malicious actions within the organization.
The platform provides security awareness training, which helps people identify threats such as phishing, social engineering attacks, and poor practices in the use of corporate tools.
With these actions, companies are able to promote a stronger security culture and considerably reduce the likelihood of incidents caused by human error.
In addition to awareness, PhishX also offers activity monitoring features that help detect suspicious behavior. This monitoring is an extra layer of protection that minimizes the risk of data leakage.
Our platform offers customized reports and performance indicators, which allow organizations to track the evolution of training and the effectiveness of internal security policies.
By integrating continuous education, active monitoring, and efficient access management, PhishX becomes an essential ally for any organization looking to protect its assets and prevent internal security incidents.
This is because, by investing in education and awareness, institutions significantly reduce the risks associated with human error, which is one of the biggest causes of security incidents.
Regular and well-structured training, combined with a strong security culture and adequate tools, ensures that employees become an essential line of defense against cyber threats.
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