Insider Threats in Cyber Security: Types, Indicators, and Mitigation Techniques

60%: That’s the increase in insider risk incidents from 2020 to 2022 (Ponemon Institute). And while external threats continue to garner more attention, insider threats, a far more insidious danger lurks within – your own employees and trusted individuals. 

Stolen data, crippled systems, and shattered customer trust are just a few of the potential consequences. The cost is immense, and the worst part? These threats are often silent and difficult to detect. The writing on the wall is clear: managing risk cannot be an afterthought anymore. 

In this article, we learn what internal threats are, types of internal threats, how to mitigate them, and indicators of such threats. 

What are insider threats?

Insider threats are security risks or breaches that originate from internal sources who have access to the organization’s sensitive data or systems. These information systems process trade secrets, personally identifiable information (PII) of customers, intellectual property, controlled unclassified information (CUI), or payment card data. 

The harm caused by internal threats can be intentional or accidental but irrespective of the motive, a well executed insider attack can severely compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of assets. 

“Effective management of insider threats is paramount to safeguarding an organization’s critical assets. Implementing robust access controls and continuous monitoring is essential to mitigate risks and prevent potentially catastrophic security breaches from within” – Girish Redekar, CEO of Sprinto

Types of insider threats

Typically insiders include employees, third-party stakeholders, consultants, service providers, business partners, and even former employees. They are essentially anyone who is authorized access to your confidential systems, files, or applications. 

They can be broadly classified into three categories:

• Unintentional or accidental insider: As the name suggests, these insiders don’t purposefully engage in an activity that may result in a security breach. This happens due to lack of awareness, accidental data transfers, and negligence. 
• Malicious insider: These individuals are fully aware of the repercussion of their actions – they cause damage on purpose. The motivation behind intentional harm could be due to lack of recognition, for personal gain, or termination. 
• Credential or imposter insider: Also known as a mole, imposter insiders are individuals outside the organization who gained access to internal systems and credentials. They pose as authorized users to avoid being detected. 

Types of threat indicators to look out for 

Threat indicators are clues on existing risks or incidents that already happened. There are three types of insider indicators – personal, behavioral, and technical.

Personal indicators

Personal indicators are a combination of psychological disorders, predispositional attributes, and personal stressors. Deciphering this type of risk may require the management to probe into the personal life of the perpetrator. 

Due to the sensitive nature of this threat indicator, you should practice caution while investigating an incident to ensure compliance with privacy and data regulations. 

Examples and indicators include:

• Financial or economic struggles
• Addiction to drugs and substance abuse
• Separation from spouse or death of a family member/friend
• Disappointment with performance review
• Loss of designation in mergers and acquisitions
• Conflicts and disagreements with senior management or coworkers
• Dissatisfaction related to role, responsibility, compensation, or recognition 

Behavioral indicators

Behavioral indicators are the patterns of normal or suspicious activities relating to the way they interact with the organization’s systems and networks. 

Unlike personal indicators that require an examination of their private life, behavioral indicators rely on observation by coworkers, human resources, reporting managers, or supervisors. 

Examples and indicators include:

• Violation of internal policies and breaches of rules 
• Unwillingness to comply with regulations
• Disagreement or resentment with plans of retribution
• Entering into unapproved contracts with competitors or business partners
• Carelessness while handling sensitive information and systems 
• Multiple trips to foreign countries
• Unnecessary volunteering that requires access to sensitive networks, facilities, data 
• Working overtime or late hours

Technical indicators

Technical indicators are concerned with direct interactions with IT facilities, networks, systems, and devices. Executing an incident using IT facilities does not require technical expertise – users with access to such systems can easily compromise sensitive information without a high level of technical skills. 

Examples and indicators include:

• Transferring large volumes of data to external file or hard drive
• Installing and running activity masking applications like VPN or Tor
• Installing and running prohibited software
• Attempting to print, download, or copy sensitive or restricted files
• Use of multiple accounts in a single system
• Multiple authentication or login attempt failure
• Attempting to circumvent or disable antivirus or anti malware tools
• Attempting or requesting access to files not required for the role
• Unauthorized or sudden changes to databases 
• Multiple instances of system failures or operating system errors

How to manage/mitigate insider threats? 

Managing insider threats involves a combination of tools, processes, and technologies. Note that you don’t need to deploy all these tools mentioned as they have overlapping capabilities. 

Here are the 5 steps to consider while managing insider threats:

Data loss prevention (DLP)

Data Loss Prevention tools protect data from loss or leakage by internal threats. It works by enforcing data handling policies, alerting teams of policy violations, prevents data exfiltration, and unauthorized transmissions. Security admins can use DLP systems to identify and prevent malicious activities like attempts to print out sensitive data.

DLP solutions ensure that data is encrypted before transmitting it to third parties and blocks unauthorized users from accessing sensitive files. These platforms provide visibility and context of data usage so you know who, when, and why behind an insider compromise. 

Privileged access management (PAM)

A subset of role based access control, privileged access management systems helps to minimize insider threats by continuously monitoring administrative or superuser accounts. It automatically detects and blocks users trying to access a file not required for their role, and enforcing the principle of least privilege. 

PAM tools help to prevent insider threats by enforcing granular access policies you set based on user roles. This helps you manage who accesses what, when, and from where, across all endpoints. If a privileged account is breached, you can investigate the incident using a PAM system to view log changes, access history, and unauthorized access attempts. 

Insider threat management (ITM)

Perhaps the best tool for this use case, insider threat management systems combine all capabilities used by technologies to manage insider threats. ITM tools are designed to detect, mitigate, and respond to security risks posed by insiders. 

Based on the data handling policies you set, ITM solutions minimizes insider risks by actively monitoring your IT environment for risky behavior. It tracks the movement of sensitive files, detects unusual data transfers, blocks unauthorized access requests to critical assets, and prevents data loss using forensic backed evidence. 

Security training and awareness

Tools, technologies, and policies are the first line of defense against insider threats but ultimately, the individuals handling the systems are responsible for preventing insider threats. 

A training program for managing insider threats should consider the applicable laws and regulations. The training does not apply just to internal employees – it also includes stakeholders, consultants, and third parties with access to sensitive information. 

As you include new tools, technologies, and processes, the threat landscape changes. Review your training module to reflect the changes and test your insiders at least twice a year. 

User behavior analytics (UBA)

User behavior analytics or user activity monitoring (UAM) tools help you identify patterns of unusual behavior by analyzing large datasets. It scans for indicators like data exfiltration, activities symptomatic of a cyberattack, unknown user interaction with critical systems, sudden updates in account credentials, or unusual data downloads. 

UBA tools help security teams visualize data patterns, investigate insider security incidents, and alerts admins of suspicious activities in real-time. 

Why should you prioritize insider threat management? Consequences of ignoring them

Insider attacks may take months to identify and years to fully recover from. Similar to external threats, a breach caused by insiders can severely impede key functions, damage business reputation, and hamper productivity. 

Many small businesses can endure heavy financial losses trying to recover from the financial repercussions. On average, companies spend $184,548 to contain an insider incident and keep everything up and running.

Specially, incidents like leakage of intellectual property or PII are difficult to circumvent without an active insider risk management program. Given that insiders already have access to your sensitive information, it is especially crucial to prioritize insider threat management. 

In addition to financial and reputational losses, it is a regulatory requirement, especially if you handle sensitive customer data. 

Data and security compliance frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, CCPA, GDPR, NIST, and more require data processors to implement security measures and controls to protect data from a wide range of internal risks. 

Manage insider threats without compromising convenience 

Managing insider threats without the right systems and tools can be time consuming, costly, and erroneous. This takes a hit on business productivity and creates unprecedented risks. 

Sprinto helps you maintain the fine balance between productivity and security by:

• Continuously and comprehensively monitoring your cloud setup for anomalous behavior, reducing manual work.
• Offers a pre-built library of fully customizable policies to help you quickly launch a insider threat management program
• Sets up adaptive access control based on roles, level of risk, and applicable policies 
• Alerts teams if it detects violation of a policy or risky behavior with relevant content to ensure timely remediation

Still not sure? Talk to our experts to learn more on how we can help you. 

FAQs

What is an example of an insider threat?

Insider threat examples include clicking on a phishing link, downloading prohibited software, sharing trade secrets with external individuals, and selling data to a competitor. 

Who could be an insider threat?

An insider threat is a person within an organization who has access to sensitive information and systems. This can include current or former employees, external consultants, or business partners.