Protect Your Business from Within: Defending Against Insider Threats

You might think you’ve done everything to protect your business from cyber threats. You have advanced security solutions to defend against external threats, but are you equally protected against internal ones?

Knowingly or unknowingly, your employees, vendors, partners, and even you could pose a threat to your business. That’s why it’s crucial to know how to protect your business from within. In this blog, we’ll discuss various internal threats, how to identify red flags, and most importantly, how to avoid them.

Common Insider Threats

There are various types of insider threats, each with its own set of risks. Here are some common threats:

  1. Data Theft: An employee or someone within the organization downloads or leaks sensitive data for personal gain or malicious purposes. This can involve physically stealing company devices or digitally copying information.Example: An employee of a healthcare provider downloads and sells protected patient information on the dark web.
  2. Sabotage: A disgruntled employee, activist, or competitor deliberately damages, disrupts, or destroys your organization by deleting important files, infecting devices, or locking the business out of crucial systems by changing passwords.Example: A disgruntled employee of a coffee shop tampers with the machine, causing malfunction and loss of business.
  3. Unauthorized Access: This occurs when malicious actors, such as hackers or disgruntled employees, gain access to business-critical information. Individuals can also mistakenly access sensitive data unknowingly.Example: A malicious employee uses their login credentials to access privileged information and leaks it to competitors.
  4. Negligence & Error: Both negligence and error can lead to insider threats that pose a security risk. While errors can be reduced through training, dealing with negligence requires stricter enforcement.Example: An employee clicks on a malicious link and downloads malware, or misplaces a laptop containing sensitive data, compromising company information.
  5. Credential Sharing: Sharing confidential passwords with colleagues or friends increases the risk of exposing your business to a cyberattack.Example: An employee uses a friend’s laptop to access their work email, forgets to sign off, and the personal laptop gets hacked, giving the hacker access to the company’s confidential information.

Spot the Red Flags

It’s crucial to identify insider threats early on. Keep an eye out for these tell-tale signs:

  • Unusual Access Patterns: An employee suddenly begins accessing confidential company information that is not relevant to their job.
  • Excessive Data Transfers: An employee starts downloading a large volume of customer data and transfers it onto a memory stick.
  • Authorization Requests: Someone repeatedly requests access to business-critical information even though their job role doesn’t require it.
  • Use of Unapproved Devices: Accessing confidential data using personal laptops or devices.
  • Disabling Security Tools: Someone from your organization disables their antivirus or firewall.
  • Behavioral Changes: An employee exhibits abnormal behaviors, such as missing deadlines or showing signs of extreme stress.

Enhance Your Defenses

Here are five steps to building a comprehensive cybersecurity framework that will ensure your business stays protected:

  1. Implement a strong password policy and encourage the use of multi-factor authentication wherever possible.
  2. Ensure employees can only access data and systems needed for their roles. Regularly review and update access privileges.
  3. Educate and train your employees on insider threats and security best practices.
  4. Regularly back up your important data to ensure you can recover from a data loss incident.
  5. Develop a comprehensive incident response plan that outlines how to respond to insider threat incidents.

Don’t Fight Internal Threats Alone

Protecting your business from insider threats can feel overwhelming, especially if you have to do it alone. That’s why you need an experienced partner. An IT service provider like us can help you implement comprehensive security measures.

Let us help you safeguard your business from the inside out. Reach out to us, and we’ll show you how to monitor for potential threats and respond effectively if an incident occurs.