Five worthy reads is a regular column on five noteworthy items we’ve discovered while researching trending and timeless topics. This week, we explore the growing landscape of insider threats, and what organizations could do to equip themselves against these threats in 2020.
Insider threats are increasingly becoming common knowledge among organizations preparing to foolproof their security perimeters. However, very few are equipped to face the threats that originate from their own internal teams, whether due to negligence or malice.
Close to half of IT professionals surveyed by BetterCloud deem insider threats to be a pressing issue; this is usually due to vast amounts of data being handled by professionals with vicious intent, or accidentally exposing it to cybercriminals. This could range from something as simple as employees falling prey to social engineering to employees working with criminals outside the organization for selfish interests.
According to a Penemon Institute report, the global cost of insider threats is around $8.76 million a year. Despite this, organizations allocate larger portions of their budget to thwart external attacks, and most have yet to ramp up proactive measures when it comes to circumventing insider attacks.
For more on how to combat the growing insider threat landscape, here are five interesting reads from across the internet:
1. Security Pros Fear Insider Attacks Stem from Cloud Apps
New survey data shows that security professionals deem cloud applications to be more vulnerable to insider attacks, and imply insider threats are more daunting to identify since migrating to the cloud.
2. Insider Threats: A Problem That is Preventable
Insider threats are a major concern for IT leaders, so why hasn’t the problem been dealt with? This article poses various examples of how a proper cybersecurity strategy can protect organizations from internal attacks, whether intentional or not.
3. 5 things security executives need to know about insider threat
Considering what’s at stake, insider threats are a phenomenon that security executives can no longer afford to ignore. Specifically, leaders need to know these five things about insider threats to be prepared.
4. To Determine Insider Threat Risk, Chart It Out
Security systems are fortified to prevent outside actors from trying to break in, but insiders are already there in possession of credentials to access all types of data and assets. Maybe it’s time to look at the cause behind insider threats a little differently.
5. Combat the human aspect of risk with insider threat awareness
When it comes to insider threat awareness and prevention, enterprises need to employ a blend of people-centric and technology-centric approaches. In doing so, organizations can take advantage of both human knowledge and machine precision to keep data safe.
While proactive strategies help enterprises stay on top of attacks by gaining granular visibility of incidents happening across their networks and endpoints in real time, reactive measures help strengthen security perimeters and build a more resilient security infrastructure based on past oversights.
With well thought-out security procedures, controls, and solutions in place, enterprises have a better chance of preempting and containing risks in the event of an attack.
