When you think of threats to yourself or your organization, what usually comes to mind are outsiders, people you don’t know, entering your home or place of business and inflicting harm. The possibility of an insider, someone you know and trust, posing a threat, is often overlooked or simply ignored. Unfortunately, insiders are frequently responsible for damaging organizations. From leaking proprietary information to causing data breaches, or perpetrating outright sabotage, employees with hidden agendas have the access and ability to disrupt and even destroy your organization.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, 28% of electronic crimes are caused by insiders; 46% of the costliest cybercrimes resulted from the actions of insiders. DHS states that the increase of insider threat cases and data leaks “illustrates the need for strong insider threat programs within organizations.” This is where GRA Maven can help.
Identifying the threat is the first step. Employees can transition from being a trusted worker and colleague to a malicious insider in the space of a day. The motives are well-understood, ranging from greed, revenge, and the pure thrill of causing chaos. Detecting the signs of a nascent, evolving risk can be difficult, but with the right training and technical monitoring, any company can learn to spot the signs of possible, budding trouble before the alarms go off.
Recognizing the symptoms is not enough. Once an incident or situation is flagged, organizations must move quickly to protect themselves from harm, risking serious damage to their physical plant, workforce well-being, financial position, earning potential, and their reputation. As obvious as this might seem, few companies respond as quickly as necessary. As Scott Sagan and Matthew Bunn note in their book Insider Threats, “Perhaps the most striking lesson we learned in working with scholars and officials who have dealt with this problem was the sheer scale of the red flags – from explicit statements of support for Osama bin Laden to behavior leading other staff to fear for their lives – that organizations are able to ignore.”
GRA Maven has a staff dedicated to analyzing your organization and determining how you can detect the malicious, troubled, or perhaps just careless or naïve employee. Our threat mitigation team will help your employees and management cadre learn to identify the behavioral patterns that might indicate a colleague’s desire to cause harm. GRA Maven can then help your organization formulate and implement tailored “best practice” policies and security measures to deal with these circumstances.
GRA Maven’s consultants and advisors have years of experience in military special operation units, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies. Many of our staff have lived in environments where “data loss” was just one of many top priorities and worked through situations that now make us uniquely prepared to help your organization.
While every organization faces the possibility of an insider threat, we understand that each client has different requirements and expectations. For more information on how GRA Maven can help your team address these challenges, contact us today.
