Solving the People Problem: Insider Risk and Trust
Over the past two years, most organizations have gone from “full steam ahead” on digital transformation to “operation warp speed.” CIOs are charged with super-fast-tracking this digital enablement and fostering cultures rooted in speed and agility, but they’re increasingly running up against a common limiter: insider risk to valuable data, amplified by decentralized, remote and hybrid workforces using cloud tools to connect, collaborate, get work done — and do it smarter, faster, better, in the face of unprecedented circumstances. Employees are 85% more likely to lose or leak data than they were pre-pandemic, and most experts think the rate of insider risk will continue accelerating over the next two years.
Why Ransomware Attackers are Moving Towards Insider Attacks and What to do About it
The ransomware crisis keeps getting worse. Although cybersecurity awareness is growing, it’s not enough to keep up with hackers. Attacks keep getting bigger, with some of the biggest ransomware attacks bringing in as much as $40 million for the attackers. With each improvement in security practices, hackers are finding more ways to circumvent them.
Unfortunately, this is not a battle that can be won by cybersecurity teams alone— it requires increased cybersecurity awareness on all levels of an organization, from humble interns doing data entry, to CEO’s drafting company best practices. However, updating network architecture can go a long way in terms of containing the damage caused by hacks when they do occur.
Insider Threats: An Age-Old Problem
Some insiders are malicious and can be financially motivated to exploit their access to sensitive data and systems. It’s important to have practices (e.g., ongoing background checks) and tooling (e.g., behavioral analytics) to help identify insiders that pose a risk.
However, it’s essential to recognize that insider threats are not always intentional or due to malicious intent. For example, an insider with excessive access permissions could be a significant risk if they are hacked. Understanding who represents a risk to the organization based on role, access to information, and more is critical to understanding, protecting against and monitoring potential threats within your organization.
Student Loans Company Dismissals Highlight Insider Risk
Over 20 staffers at the Student Loans Company (SLC) have faced disciplinary action for computer misuse and other offenses, including three former employees who were fired, according to new Freedom of Information (FoI) data.
Insider Threats are on the Rise – Even in the Virtual Workplace
More than a year and a half after the COVID-19 pandemic began, countless workers are still doing their jobs remotely rather than from their offices. While there are many positives to working from home, there can also be some negatives at play like nefarious actors taking advantage of the tools and connections that employees use in work from home environments.
Insider threats, a security risk that comes from within the organization, are posing a major security problem for businesses. This is partially due to the widespread use of social media, encrypted communication platforms, and other tools. Now more than ever insider threats need to be identified, thwarted, and prevented.
One in Three Workers Monitored by their Employers
Almost one in three (32%) workers are being monitored at work by their employers, according to a new survey of 2424 UK workers by the union Prospect. This represents a substantial rise from April 2021, when 24% of employees reported being subjected to monitoring at work, sparking privacy and intrusion concerns.
This rise has partially been driven by a significant uptick in home workers being monitored by cameras over this period, up from 6% in April to 13%.