Whether businesses are grappling with rapidly changing market conditions, ongoing epidemic turmoil, geopolitical conflicts, or changing work environments, threat actors are using this moment to compromise network integrity or compromise data privacy.
In many ways, their efforts are paying off. According to Recent industry research, 66% of respondents said they experienced a ransomware attack in 2021, a 29% increase over the previous year. On the other hand, the threat actor Billions of phishing emails everyday, A company that clicks away from major cybersecurity or data privacy incidents.
when combined with record cost of restoration It is not surprising that companies continue to invest more financial and human resources into their cybersecurity efforts.
when you do that, Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigation Report Clarify how to optimize these investments. Be prepared to defend against internal threats. Specifically, the report found that 82% of data breaches involved a human factor, including “social attacks, errors and misuse”.
Insiders, including employees, contractors, suppliers and other trusted third parties, pose significant cybersecurity risks. Since they have legitimate access to a company’s IT network, an accidental or malicious insider can cause serious harm. That’s why all organizations need to consider insiders, recognizing that mitigating insider threats is the key to protecting against cybersecurity risks.
The three critical elements of effective internal risk management are:
#1 Embracing Human Intelligence
Insider threats include unintentional or deliberate actions that undermine cybersecurity, and human intelligence can help businesses identify and respond to insider threats. as U.S. Office of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security (CISA) explains, “An organization’s employees are a valuable resource for observing behaviors of concern, just like those close to individuals, such as family, friends, and colleagues.”
Because these people are in a position to best understand someone’s changing life circumstances and related issues, they can provide important context for potentially problematic behavior.
For example, behavioral indicators may include:
- Dissatisfied or dissatisfied insider
- Documented Attempts to Avoid Security Protocols
- change work patterns or regularly work overtime
- Expressing anger towards colleagues or leadership
- You are considering resigning or are actively looking for new job opportunities.
To put their observations into action, companies must adopt a “report, speak,” policy that ensures that all employees have a communications structure in place to report potential threats before they become vulnerable.
Effective implementation of these programs can make human intelligence an integral part of an effective internal risk management program.
#2 Leverage software solutions
In today’s digital-first business environment, software solutions are an important part of an effective insider threat prevention program.
Specifically, businesses should look at three categories of software to detect, contain, and prevent internal threats:
- User activity monitoring. The software evaluates insider digital activity to identify malicious or risky activity. It can be configured to prevent unwanted behavior or alert the cybersecurity team, allowing businesses to respond more quickly to internal threats, regardless of their physical location.
- User and entity behavior analysis. The software identifies anomalies by setting baseline behaviors and alerting leaders when employees are differentiated from these norms. For example, user and entity behavioral analysis highlights that employees access corporate networks at unusual times or transmit unusual amounts of data or entities.
- Endpoint monitoring. The software protects corporate data from theft, preventing insiders from accidentally or maliciously exposing sensitive data.
As companies leverage software solutions to augment their human intelligence efforts, they can receive real-time alerts for anomalous behavior, better control corporate data management, improve network visibility, and more.
Ultimately, when technology works with human intelligence, businesses are best positioned to reduce the risk of insiders compromising network integrity or data privacy.
#3 Focus on Prevention
As companies navigate through this disruptive moment, insight and control over their inner workings becomes increasingly important. for example, Recent industry reports We found that businesses have a 37% chance of losing intellectual property (IP) when an employee leaves the company. At the same time, 96% of survey respondents report difficulties in protecting corporate data from internal threats.
However, only a fifth of organizations allocate a portion of their cybersecurity budget specifically to internal threats.
The ancient adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is particularly relevant in this case. While improving employee awareness and holding all employees accountable for data management and cybersecurity standards, the costs and consequences of failure are relatively low.
By focusing on prevention rather than responding to the impact of cybersecurity incidents, any company can make internal risk management a fundamental component of their cybersecurity efforts. As the most recent research proves, it can be the difference between success and failure when simply failure is not an option.
This article was originally Forbes Reprinted with permission.