How to Confront Insider Threats Head On

If you run a company that’s either partially or completely online, then you might have come face to face with security breaches in the past. You know that it’s important to back everything up and make sure you have digital security measures in place, but somehow there still seem to be threats made to your company’s database every now and then.

What’s potentially more worrying than this, though, is inside threats. This is someone who already has access to the company database that can infiltrate from within. They will either already be an employee or someone who knows an employee and has gained access. Either way, inside threats, are a real thing, and you need to know how to tackle them. Let’s talk about how to confront inside threats head-on so that you can protect your company’s data internally and externally.

The Three Main Reasons for Insider Threats

There are four main reasons why you might be confronted with an internal threat from time to time. The first one is money. Greed results in a need to gain confidential information and data from a company that is either known to the perpetrator, or they know of someone who is going to benefit from having it financially. Either way, their motivation is money, because data can be sold on for a good price.

The second reason for an inside threat occurring is ideology. This is the concept of someone on the inside who you might think is working for you, but they are, in fact, working for someone else, with the goal of stealing data and personal information. This is a common reason, and it’s becoming more common as data becomes a more valuable commodity.

The third and last motivation for an internal threat is coercion. One of your employees might have been coerced into retrieving data for someone who doesn’t have access themselves, either through blackmail or the promise of a reward.

Different Types of Insider Threats

There are two main types of internal threats that can wreak havoc on your company database. The first is negligent internal threats. This is when an employee, due to negligence or absent-mindedness, has clicked on something in their inbox without stopping to think whether it’s safe or not. This is one of the more common ways that hackers get through to the inside – through employees that are practicing safety measures when accessing the database.

The second type of internal threat is a compromised inside threat. This is when a social engineer will get in contact with an unsuspecting employee in order to try and glean information from them so that they can infiltrate the company system. The employee in question might be fooled by the perpetrator sounding official, or they might feel the need to people-please. Either way, this is a relatively common occurrence.

There is another type of internal threat, which is a little less common. This is when an employee knowingly breaches company security.

Implementing an Insider Threat Program

The best way to combat inside threats is to implement an insider threat program. This type of software is advanced and prepared to fight against all different types of internal threats. It can also help prevent security breaches occurring from the inside by showing average data analytics and producing weekly reports.

The key to insider threat software is always to stay ahead of the curve. If your technology is this advanced, then you can identify a threat before it’s been able to do too much damage. If you run an online business, this is an essential part of your overhead.

It’s not easy keeping track of all online business activity, especially if you have been forced to move most of your services online right now. However, it’s important to remember that some security threats can come from the inside, too, so you’ve got to cover all of your bases.