The Threat Sitting Next To You: Defending Cyber Insider Attacks

Each year, companies wisely invest in advanced perimeter security devices and software to secure their electronic data and thwart cyber attacks. Unfortunately, despite that well-reasoned approach, the greatest threat to data security may be someone within the organization’s own walls.

An April 23, 2019 privacy notification by the FBI stated that U.S. businesses are reporting a significantly increased amount of data loss as a result of insider threat actors. Typically, those actions are caused by IT administrative professionals or corporate managerial executives who have elevated permission status to data stored on the network. The situation is further complicated by the advance of cloud based technologies and SaaS (software as a service) application structures where file sharing permissions and access configurations can be harder to administer.