Insider threats are an increasing worry for companies of all sizes. They don’t necessarily come from malicious insiders attempting to sabotage the firm, but also from careless or ignorant workers who inadvertently leak information.
In this blog post, we’ll explore four major ways insider threats can cost companies financially, reputationally, and legally. More importantly, we’ll discuss clear and practical steps organizations can take to prevent these threats.
Prefer watching instead of reading? Here’s a quick video guide
What Is an Insider Threat?
An insider threat is any risk to an organization that comes from people within it employees, contractors, vendors, or anyone with authorized access to company systems and data.
Insider threats are usually categorized into three types:
Malicious insiders – Individuals who knowingly steal, disclose, or destroy information.
Negligent insiders – Individuals who inadvertently breach security (e.g., when they click a phishing link).
Compromised insiders – Account-hijacked by outside attackers, typically because the account credentials were weak or the individual fell prey to social engineering.
Loss of Confidential Data
The most prevalent insider threat is the disclosure of sensitive company information trade secrets, customer data, intellectual property, or financial information. In most instances, insiders download confidential material to bring to a competitor, sell, or release on the web.
For instance, an employee who is leaving might duplicate customer lists to benefit at their new job. Even employees with good intentions might save sensitive papers on personal cloud storage without appreciating the danger.
The Cost
- Loss of competitive advantage
- Legal fines for data breaches (e.g., GDPR or HIPAA fines)
- Loss of customer trust
Prevention Tips
- Restrict access: Grant employees only the data they require (principle of least privilege).
- Use DLP tools (Data Loss Prevention): These identify and prevent unauthorized sharing or transfer of sensitive documents.
- Exit interviews and audits: Inspect file access logs and shut down accounts upon departure.
Sabotage and System Damage
Some insiders do it out of malice. They can delete files, crash servers, or install malware. Disgruntled employees can sabotage systems following a layoff, demotion, or altercation with management.
There are documented cases where fired IT admins locked entire organizations out of their systems or erased backups.
The Cost
- Downtime and loss of business continuity
- Costly recovery and forensic analysis
- Possible lawsuits or regulatory scrutiny
Prevention Tips
- Implement activity monitoring: Monitor unusual activity such as bulk file deletion or late-night login attempts.
- Limit admin privileges: Not everyone needs the capability to alter system settings or view backups.
- Offboarding procedures: Instantly remove credentials when an employee leaves or is fired.
Phishing and Credential Leaks
Not all insider threats are malicious. Most begin with employee carelessness. An employee may be tricked by a phishing email and inadvertently share their credentials. From there, attackers can laterally move through the network making the attack appear to originate from within.
This is how most ransomware attacks start.
The Cost
- Data breaches and ransomware infections
- Expensive incident response and recovery
- Damage to brand reputation and customer trust
Prevention Tips
- Train staff regularly: Educate on how to identify phishing, stay away from suspicious links, and report anything unusual.
- Use MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication): Even if the password is compromised, an attacker cannot log in without the second factor.
- Track account activity: Identify if an account suddenly queries huge data or logs in from unexpected locations.
Reputational Damage and Loss of Trust
Apart from the explicit damage to systems or information, insider threats tend to inflict permanent damage to a company’s reputation. Should the public or your clients learn that an internal individual orchestrated a significant breach or accessed confidential information, confidence is lost at a rapid pace.
Worse, news media coverage, social media outrage, and regulator interest can make recovery lengthy and painstaking.
The Cost
- Customer churn and lost revenue
- Strained ability to attract partners or investors
- Public relations nightmares
Prevention Tips
- Be honest with customers when incidents occur take ownership, tell them why, and provide evidence of action.
- Develop a robust incident response plan to respond quickly and limit harm.
- Create a security culture where all employees feel responsible for securing the organization.
Last Thoughts
Insider threats are sneaky because they don’t necessarily appear as threats. You trust your people, and most individuals don’t intentionally seek to do harm. But security these days is not about protecting the network perimeter anymore it’s about controlling risk from the inside out.
Prevention Is Everybody’s Responsibility
Here’s a brief rundown of how to minimize insider threats:
Conclusion
By adopting intelligent tools, having strict policies in place, and cultivating a security-aware culture, organizations can hugely reduce the risk of insider threats and escape the ruinous expense that accompanies them.
