What are insider threats, and how can they be prevented?

When many organizations strategize about cybersecurity, they often focus on external actors trying to break into their systems. However, the biggest threats often come from within.

Insider threats can cause extensive harm, from reputational damage to financial losses. Understanding what an insider threat is, how it occurs, and the steps to prevent it is crucial for every organization. Here is your guide to understanding and mitigating insider threats.

What is an insider threat?

Insider threats are malicious or accidental security risks originating from within an organization. It involves someone with legitimate access to internal systems deliberately or unintentionally misusing their access. Because they originate from within, insider threats are more difficult to detect and can be more damaging than external malicious attacks.

A malicious insider threat involves individuals who deliberately steal data or sabotage internal systems. For example, Coinbase, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, recently fell victim to a damaging malicious insider threat.

Some Coinbase support agents were bribed to leak customer data, which hackers then used to orchestrate social engineering attacks, resulting in Coinbase incurring up to $400 million in restitution losses.

A negligent insider threat occurs when an employee or contractor unintentionally compromises the security of internal systems, for example, by falling victim to phishing attacks. Though unintentional, they’re just as damaging as malicious insider threats and must be mitigated.

Security Research Group (SRG) provides military-grade threat identification services to protect internal corporate systems. Our services mitigate both malicious and negligent insider threats, helping business operations run smoothly.

Types of insider threats

As mentioned, insider threats take different forms. It could be an employee purposely misusing their access to steal data, or an employee unknowingly granting malicious actors access to sensitive data.

Sometimes, malicious actors use compromised employee accounts to gain unauthorized access to internal systems with a low likelihood of detection. Let’s dive deeper into the types of insider threats.

Insider threats can be intentional, such as those perpetrated by malicious employees, or negligent, as in the case of employees who unknowingly expose their organization to cyber risks. They can also emanate from internal accounts compromised by external actors.