Insider threat monitoring tools are vital components of your insider risk management program, but they need to be deployed carefully and within legal bounds.
Insider threat monitoring tools play a key role in an organizational risk management program. These tools detect digital patterns of behavior and help risk management teams identify anomalies or suspicious behavior, as well as enforce internal workplace security measures. This is done through keystroke logging, monitoring of network traffic, language processing, and other methods that continue to evolve as time goes on. However, the deployment of monitoring solutions also presents their own legal dilemmas that need to be addressed by your organization as well. Here are some of the legal considerations you’ll need to make as you plan to implement insider threat monitoring solutions for your organization.
Who You’re Monitoring
First, who your team is tasked with monitoring will matter a great deal as it may determine whether you need to give notice and consent prior to monitoring. And naturally, third-parties will be a complicating factor to all of this. Some states even prevent employers from monitoring their own employees without written consent. And there are various other laws, such as the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which may restrict or govern your ability to monitor who you want. Many organizations will simply have new employees sign an acknowledgment form as part of the on-boarding process to provide necessary consent. But other measures will need to be considered when it comes to monitoring the communications that come from third-parties, and these measures may vary depending on the state.
What You’re Monitoring
Next, consider what exactly you’ll be monitoring with your insider threat monitoring tools. Do you intend to collect data in transit, data at rest, or both? Many state and federal laws regulate and may even prohibit the interception of data in transit without express consent. On the other hand, statutes such as the Stored Communications Act may even prohibit the collection of data at rest. A thorough, minute assessment of the various processes in place and where data is stored is key to understanding what it is that you can and cannot monitor, as well as how to appropriately handle the monitoring of the data that you can.
Where You’re Monitoring
This question is especially important given the recent immense shift to remote workplaces as dictated by the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you plan on installing monitoring software on personal devices that are used for work? Some states outright prohibit this through spyware laws and the economic impact if your organization is implicated in breaking these laws can be onerous. Formulating a safe and secure remote workplace plan can be daunting, but ultimately can make the difference in allowing your company to utilize the various data loss prevention techniques and software that will keep your critical data safe from potential insider risk.
Contact ITMG to Develop Strategies and Protocols Designed to Help Your Company Mitigate Your Insider Risk
ITMG is an industry leader in helping organizations throughout the United States strengthen their insider risk management programs and secure sensitive data and intellectual property. Our team of bona fide experts has the real-world experience necessary to plan out and create holistic security solutions tailored to the special needs and risks in your industry. Contact ITMG today to learn more about how we can help! You can also visit our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages for more updates and insights into the world of insider risk management.