Solutions to Stop Insider Threats in Cybersecurity

60% of cyberattacks are caused by insider threats. The most common way an insider threat can affect an environment is through phishing emails. Phishing emails entice employees to open, read, and act. Once an individual clicks on a link or downloads an attachment from the email, an entire environment can be infected. Weak and reused passwords are also a threat because credential stuffing is on the rise. Unattended, orphaned accounts make your cyber environment vulnerable.

 

Insider threats can disrupt your business. Our 24/7/365 rapid response to breaches can mitigate the damage. SpearTip can not only react to cybersecurity incidents, we can proactively prevent them from happening. Our continuous investigative cycle monitors, detects, and responds to incidents before they destroy an environment. Learn more about insider threats in cybersecurity and what we can do to prevent them below.

Identifying the Cause of Insider Threats

SpearTip’s 24/7/365 onsite security operations center proactively responds to threats in your organization’s environment. SpearTip can monitor an organization for attacks that have not yet occurred, or attacks that are currently taking place under your radar.

 

We go far beyond the standard Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) collection methodology by monitoring harvested information for indicators of compromise. We passively
cross-reference both current and future activity referenced within the criminal realms to protect your organization from a malicious attack. When malicious traffic is detected, our rapid response team immediately notifies the organization and begins fighting the attack.

How Common are Insider Threats?

Insider threats are extremely common, because organizations are typically vulnerable to them. Bad actors outside of an organization have become smarter and more sophisticated than ever before. They have the power to deploy social engineering attacks, such as phishing emails, that are quite often successful. They can leverage social media—specifically LinkedIn—to peek into organizations, learn more about the structure, and strategize an attack. These attacks are far too frequent and complex for internal IT departments to handle them alone. SpearTip’s elite team of cyber counterintelligence agents can outmaneuver insider threats in your cybersecurity environment.

What are the Types of Insider Threats?

Most compromised users don’t even know they’ve been compromised. These are users that simply don’t care about cybersecurity practices, and they can harm an environment each time they fail to lock their computer while away or by clicking on a malicious link in a phishing email. The other main type of insider threat in cybersecurity are the ones who have user access and want to purposely attack an environment. Learn more about these insider threats below:

Malicious Insiders

Malicious insiders have a mission. They have user access and purposefully take intellectual property from your organization. They know their power, and they use it to their advantage. Usually, they are the ones responsible for keeping the data safe; therefore, it is more difficult and challenging to understand or recognize a severe attack.

Careless Insiders

They don’t follow the rules. Cybersecurity is not their priority. When they are away from their desk, their computer is left open. It doesn’t make sense for them to stay up to date with best practices because they aren’t going to pursue them. Vendors often also fall into this careless category, and their organization’s vulnerabilities can become your vulnerabilities.

Moles

A mole is a spy. Moles are often first recruited before having access to secret intelligence. Once inside a target organization, they become a major threat to cybersecurity. They “belong” to the organization and also could be a disgruntled employee who intends to do bad things like steal data or destroy things.

Best Practices for Protecting Against Insider Attacks

An organization needs to instill best practices in their employees to protect themselves against insider threats to cybersecurity. Prior to new employees obtaining access to a computer, they should be trained on security awareness. Companies should frequently issue social engineering attacks to help employees better distinguish against the malicious ones. Human Resources also needs a secure employee termination plan to prevent disgruntled employees from causing damage.

 

Use a password manager for safe and secure password practices across the entire organization. Implement physical security in the workplace such as cameras and badges in addition to security guards at all entrances. Establish an incident response plan so when a data breach or ransomware attack occurs, all those responsible can act accordingly and the right procedures are taken.

How Much Does an Insider Threat Cost?

Insider threats in cybersecurity often cost companies more than $8 million annually. The numbers continue to rise each year. As bad actors become smarter and more sophisticated, threats worsen and cause more harm to an organization. A cybersecurity plan eliminates the risk an organization may face when they encounter a data breach or ransomware attack.