The Basic Types of Insider Threats & How to Mitigate Them

One of the most difficult types of attacks to ward off are those perpetrated by insiders. “Insiders” are considered anyone that has a legitimate credential to access a technology system. This would include your employees and any vendors that need access to your network. It can also include those that have stolen the credentials of an authorized user.

Why are insider threats so hard to detect and stop? Because when someone is logged in to a website, software, or network with a legitimate user credential, they bypass certain security safeguards. For example, a firewall set to look for unauthorized access, would not have protections triggered for legitimate users.

According to a 2022 report by Ponemon, the frequency of insider attacks rose by 44% over the last two years, showing an alarming upward trend. Additionally, the cost of remediating these attacks also increased, by 34%.

Organizations that haven’t put cybersecurity solutions in place specifically to address insider threats, run a high risk of suffering a data breach or malware infection.

Let’s discuss the various types of insider threats because identifying them is the first step toward defending against them.

Types of Insider Threats

Contrary to popular beliefs, most insider threats aren’t malicious at all. A majority are not the result of disgruntled or opportunistic employees stealing data or planting a virus. Fifty-six percent of insider attacks are the result of careless employees. 

Here are the four main categories of insider threats.

Careless Employees

Unless staff is trained regularly in cybersecurity awareness and data handling practices, they can easily make mistakes that put a company at risk. From falling for phishing scams to storing passwords in a non-secure way, there are plenty of ways that poor cyber hygiene can cause your company grief.

Malicious Employees

Another category of insider threat is the employee that purposely steals sensitive data or introduces malware into company systems. This category accounts for a little more than 1 in 4 insider attack incidents.

Vendors/Contractors

Another area of concern is insider threats that come from those you need to provide access to your company data and systems. This may be a marketing company you hired or a temporary contractor that needs to log into one of your technology systems.

If these vendors have lax security or are fishing for sensitive data, it could mean a breach.

Hackers with Stolen Credentials

The fourth category of insider threat is the hacker with stolen login credentials. Password theft has skyrocketed with the increased use of cloud computing systems. Company data is now easier to access than ever before because it’s cloud-based and can be gotten at from anywhere in the world if you have the right login.

According to the latest IBM Cost of a Data Breach report, credential theft is now the #1 driver of data breaches globally.

Indicators Your Company is at Risk for Insider Attacks & What to Do About It

Is your company at unnecessary risk of an insider attack right now? Here are some of the red flags that indicate you are.

Employees Don’t Receive Security Awareness Training Regularly

Training employees on how to detect phishing once per year is not enough to mitigate the risk of a mistake causing a breach. If you don’t have regular discussions on security and employees only get trained once per year or less, then you’re at a high risk of a careless insider causing an incident.

Employees retain information better if it’s presented at least every 4-5 months. That means training approximately once per quarter. Training can be done by video, through in-person training with an IT pro, phishing simulations, and other ways.

Your Company Doesn’t Manage Devices Well

Are you keeping track of device access to your network? Do you know all the PCs and mobile devices employees use to connect to your business apps and data? If not, then an insider breach could easily happen. This can be through a non-secured device, a device that is infected with malware, or by a hacker because the system doesn’t have a way to recognize unauthorized devices.

Using an endpoint device management application (such as Microsoft’s Intune) can significantly improve your security for all those endpoints and reduce breach risk.

Security Policies Aren’t Enforced

Do managers and staff take shortcuts that bypass security policies? For example, you may have a policy that users being assigned as administrators in your cloud accounts need to be approved by a supervisor first. However, to quickly get something done when someone is out sick, this rule is broken, and someone is given admin credentials without approval.

That’s just one example of how security policies that seem inconvenient can be neglected if they are not enforced. It’s important to let staff know that these policies might seem to be "in the way” at times, but they’re there to protect everyone from a much larger issue, a data breach of your systems.

Get Help Improving Your Defenses for Insider Attacks

BrainStomp can help you put layered security in place that addresses all types of insider threats, from those that are due to carelessness to the malicious types.

Schedule a free consultation today! Call 260-918-3548 or reach out online.