Data breaches caused by the intentional actions or negligence of trusted insiders can be hard to prevent, but a combination of risk management, training and technology can help avoid them.
Organization need to trust employees in order for them to do their jobs, but this trust can be abused when an employee acts maliciously or negligently. We can help to prevent this kind of risk incident through a combination of training, technology, and implementing the appropriate risk management practices.
Types of insider-caused cyber incidents
Unauthorised access to IT resources
An employee accesses or allows outsiders to access IT resources, either virtually or physically, to steal data or enable the theft. Some cyber criminals offer large sums for employees to sell their access. The employee can use their inside knowledge to make it harder to detect what they have done, and often IT employees are likely to be involved.
Financial crime
An employee exploits their knowledge of internal practices, controls, or weaknesses to engage in fraud or theft, typically by working with someone outside the organization. The employee is more likely to be someone outside of IT.
Snooping
Employees looking at personal data without a legitimate business reason can occur in many industries but is particularly common in healthcare, where the law strictly protects patient information, and also in financial services
How to protect against an insider data breach
Manage access
Enforce the principle of least privilege. Audit privileged accounts and activities involving access to sensitive or strategic information regularly. Phishing-resistant MFA not only helps secure your network but can make it easier to attribute suspicious activity to an individual during an investigation.
Manage assets
Good asset management makes it harder for an insider to leverage assets owned by the organization against the organization. A third-party attack surface monitoring (ASM) solution can help to protect assets that are vulnerable and exposed to the Internet, depriving an insider of the ability to leak sensitive data to externally for malicious purposes.
Log and monitor
Set up silent alerts that are triggered when an employee attempts to modify or delete logs. Centralised logging makes it harder for an insider to alter or manipulate their actions to cover their tracks.
Train employees
Encourage a culture of reporting. Train all employees about their role in protecting the organization against cyber threats, and inform them about your logging and auditing practices. In healthcare, train employees about the risks of unauthorised access or access beyond the necessary minimum for their role. .
How to respond to an insider-caused data breach
We encourage policyholders who experience an actual or suspected cyber incident to notify us.
CTA to Notify a Claim or Incident
Preserve evidence for investigation
Make sure logging and log retention options are configured correctly. Forensic investigation that identifies what the insider has done can help to ensure the appropriate scope for any notification that may be required.
Adopt Zero Trust principles
Zero Trust is a security model that restricts access to any resource on a network until the person or device is verified for that access, whether they are internal or external. Using Zero Trust principles for designing and implementing the network and services on the network can reduce insider risk by limiting the scope of insider activity, because a user connected to the internal network is not necessarily trusted more than external users.
Building trust with employees is essential, yet it's imperative to guard against insider threats. Through a blend of training, technology, and robust risk management practices, organizations can mitigate the risk of insider-caused cyber incidents and safeguard sensitive data.
Protecting against insider data breaches requires a multi-faceted approach: managing access, assets, and vigilant logging. By fostering a culture of awareness and investing in robust security measures, organizations can effectively mitigate the risks posed by insider threats.
Ransomware attacks are not just about encryption; they're sophisticated business operations. Through expert guidance and proactive measures like email security enhancement and access management, we equip organizations to defend against the multi-stage tactics of cybercriminals.
