Data Breaches are a nightmare for a business but are you protecting yourself in the correct manner?
When you think of cybersecurity threats to your business, chances are you are thinking about hackers trying to infiltrate your systems from the outside. In reality, insider threats are just as serious as outsider threats. They are more common than you think and they come in a variety of different types.
Outsider threats are the most recognizable form of cyber security problems. They originate from outside your company or organization. They can be perpetrated by other nation-states, hacktivists, cyber criminals, or even white hat pentesters. They are often looking for sensitive trade or organization secrets, to affect political or social change, or most commonly for some form of economic gain.
Insider threats can be a little bit different. While they are still mostly motivated by economic gain of some sort, the methods are usually more direct. Instead of having to hack into your company or organization’s database, insiders already have access. These insiders can be people who work for you directly, contractors, business partners, or vengeful former employees. Data can be copied and carried out without you even knowing it depending on the level of trust you have with your employees. The most successful threats come when the insiders and the outsiders are working together, and this is actually the most common threat to a business.
You can protect your company or organization by taking a few simple steps. Start by identifying and classifying your most sensitive information. Just limiting access to the important stuff can go a long way. Monitor access to this data and train your employees on how to prevent data breaches. After all, encryption won’t do you a bit of good if your employees are not protecting access to the company’s database.
Learn more about insider and outsider threats from this infographic. It’s time to start recognizing the common role insiders play in espionage and hacking!
Data Breaches: Insiders Vs Outsiders
