Eliminating Insider Threats

How to keep your company’s confidential data within the confines of your building.

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While so much noise is focused around external threats, very little attention is paid to the insider threats, which is growing at an alarming rate. According to a 2017 survey of security professionals from Haystax Technology, 56 percent of respondents said insider threats have grown more frequent in the past year. Another study from IBM says insiders are responsible for 60 percent of all data breaches. Of those breaches, 75 percent were done with malicious intent and 25 percent were accidental. A Verison study puts the number of insider-led data breaches even higher at 77 percent.

Just how big is the insider threat problem?

“As businesses embrace digitisation—and the Internet of Everything (IoE)¹ begins to take shape—defenders will have even more to worry about. The attack surface will only expand, giving adversaries more space to operate. Ask any cybersecurity specialist to name the biggest security threat to an organisation and they’ll tell you it’s people,” says Scott Manson, Middle East cybersecurity lead at Cisco.

According to the Cisco Connected World Technology Report, 7 of 10 employees admitted to knowingly breaking IT policies on a regular basis, and 3 of 5 believe they are not responsible for protecting corporate information and devices.