Insider Crime Takes the Easy Path

Insider crime is a serious problem for both private and public organizations.  In 2008 the U.S. Secret Service and CERT at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute performed an in-depth study of reported insider incidents at a wide variety of organizations including government, financial, IT, and Telecommunications sectors.

The results were surprising and disconcerting for information security professionals.  Instead of confirming the success of network-based security technologies, the reports found that insider threats remain extremely difficult to predict or detect, and that simple observation of computer screens was the launchpad for most attacks.

Some important facts:

The Insider Threat caught on camera

  1. Insiders were the cause over half of electronic crime.
  2. 42% of the insiders used simple observation techniques to acquire damaging information.
  3. Companies also suffered significant negative impacts to their business operations, and damage to their reputations.
  4. Insiders cost organizations an average of $400,000, and as much as $20m per detected incident
  5. There were no detectable threat indicators as insider demographics covered a very wide range of age, backgrounds, and job responsibilities.

How can you protect your organization?

Consider using PrivateEye Enterprise to secure your company computers.  Each employee will be able to work normally, but PrivateEye will remove the opportunity for troublesome insiders to snoop on their colleagues displays.  The audit capability will also identify when insiders are persistently trying to view or access computers without authorization, giving you the opportunity to take action before it is too late.

Links:

  1. Insider Threat Study: Illicit Cyber Activity in the Government Sector
  2. Insider Threat Study: Illicit Cyber Activity in the Information Technology and Telecommunication Sector, 2008
  3. Insider Threat Study: Computer System Sabotage in Critical Infrastructure Sectors
  4. Insider Threat Study: Illicit Cyber Activity in the Banking and Finance Sector
  5. PrivateEye Enterprise Whitepaper: Protecting Patient Privacy in Healthcare