Insider Cyber Threats: A Pressing Problem Facing Business

There are two different types of insider threat: negligent and malicious. Negligent insiders are people who give attackers access by mistake. For example, the employee who clicks on a spear-phishing email and lets hackers into their employer’s networks is a negligent insider. This is a significant problem, but one that can be corrected through training and a strong focus on good cyber hygiene.

The issue of malicious insiders is completely different. A malicious insider is an employee who willfully either steals information or damages company networks on purpose. The threat from malicious insiders is especially pressing because they are already inside all the protections meant to keep malicious actors out. Arguably the most famous malicious insider is Edward Snowden, who stole a vast amount of classified information from the federal government in 2013. That incident was extremely high profile, but a more common manifestation of a malicious insider threat would be fraud committed by people who work in the financial services industry.

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