From the Inside, out

As humans, we tend to draw all our focus outwards - how people look, how successful a business is from their office space, how safe a home is depending on the high walls and electric fencing.

This is the same for Cyber Security. Companies focus on outsider threats.

They make sure they are equipped to defend against hackers infiltrating through malware or social engineering tactics skimming over the fact that a large amount of breaches that occur are due to insider threats.

An insider threat can be a user who causes a breach through careless behaviour or an employee that is deliberately causing the business harm by stealing information or hacking into the organisation to spread malware which causes major damage and data loss.

The first insider threat mentioned above regarding careless behaviour would form part of Human Error.

This type of insider threat can be dealt with by making sure your organisation has a User Awareness Training program in place which will greatly reduce the risk of a breach occurring this way because once an employee becomes aware and knows the do’s and don’ts the chances of them being careless again is very low.

It will enhance the productivity of your workplace because users will feel empowered to know that they are making a difference in the company by following their best practices. They will feel as if they are doing their bit.

The second insider threat is malicious employees.

The ability to identify malicious insiders can only be done with ongoing and constant behavioural monitoring. When you have total visibility on real activity, it is easy to identify anomalies. The visibility gives you the capability to detect and immediately respond. This prevents damage. You have no choice but to make sure that know what is being changed, moved or added to prevent losses.

Increasing your visibility will help identify the accidental insider and help them improve and ensure you quickly identify and eradicate the malicious insider.

Having a security partner like J2 Software to make sure you are covered, not only from outside threats but from inside threats too.

Let’s get real.

Olivia-Hannah Coetzee