How to Protect Your Business from Insider Security Threats

Most efforts to protect businesses from cyberattacks focus on outside threats, but insider threats are actually more common and can be much more dangerous to your organization. Imagine if an executive could get access to important financial and personal data from your clients or accounts, or if an employee decides to wreak havoc on your system after a dispute? These could cripple your business and put you in hot water with your clients, investors, and the law. The worst in all of this is that protecting your business from insider threats can almost be impossible, as some people will need to have access to critical data as part of their operations. So, what can you do to reduce the chance of insider security threats to a minimum?

Understanding the Different Types of Insider Security Threats

In order to protect yourself from threats, you have to understand the different types. First, you have accidental threats. One of your employees makes a mistake and clicks on a link in a malicious email, or ends up sending critical files to the wrong recipient.

Then you have malicious attacks conducted by insiders. These could be out of spite, monetary gain, or they may even be spying for another company. These are by far the most devastating and difficult to counteract. Then you have times when people have permissions they shouldn’t, such as when an employee is revoked, but kept their permissions. This would allow the employee to have free rein over former accounts.

Implement a Data Use Policy

If you don’t have one yet, the very first thing to do is to have a data use policy. This will lay out what employees can actually do with the data they have access to. Your employees should be educated on this policy and understand the importance of proper data management, privacy, and safety. Your employees should also know what disciplinary measures will be taken if the rules aren’t followed.

Another thing you could do, and that is often overlooked, is check user privileges. You should review permissions and terminate those on accounts that are no longer needed, or inactive accounts that were not disabled.

What to Do if You Were Victim of an Inside Job

If you think you have been victim of an inside job, make sure that you look at the evidence you have. Check out any suspicious email messages, and check the activity in your network. Also note if there were any sudden changes within your organization that could’ve prompted an attack, like massive layoffs, or disgruntled employees.

You can then work with a data forensics company that will be able to look over your data and watch for evidence of an attack. They will also be essential if you want to be able to build a case against the offender. There are many services that offer digital forensics in Cleveland and most major US cities. They will be able to tell you in many cases where the attack originated from and allow you to go after the attackers.

You cannot as a business owner take the reality of insider threats lightly. You never know when one of your employees may want to take revenge or if one of your higher ups has been courted by a third party.