When companies think about preventing IT security threats, they automatically visualize hackers shrouded in hoodies writing malware code. However, organizations should keep in mind their own employees.
While some insider threats originate from bad intent, as in the case of a disgruntled employee, in many cases, insider threats are caused by employee negligence or lack of security awareness. Often, the offending employee makes a mistake that causes a breach, data loss, or equipment failure.
When developing IT security strategies, organizations must plan how to mitigate internal security risk. Having the right tools and processes in place to prevent inside threats will strengthen a company’s overall security posture.
For the most part, employees are not security experts, so they make mistakes. That’s why ransomware has been so successful. Employees fail to recognize phishing emails, so they click on attachments, launching malware into the company’s systems.
Security awareness training helps employees learn to recognize the hallmarks of phishing emails, such as spelling and grammatical errors, and gives them tips on how to handle suspicious emails safely.
Lack of identity and access control at your business creates insider risk by allowing employees to access data and applications that are not appropriate for their job level or function. When employees can access information they don’t need, it increases the chance of sensitive information getting lost, compromised, or distributed improperly.
Issues with access control also generate insider risk by making it easier for bad actors to access employee accounts. Password protection for employees is one option. Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) can help by getting more sets of eyes on access attempts.
However, using MFA can be a pain for employees who don’t want to jump through so many hoops to do their jobs. Hackers can also get around two-factor authentication by counting keystrokes.
All is not lost, however.
Security automation software can overcome the limitations of other access control technologies. For example, Check Point offers security software that automates the screening of access attempts and provides email security by sending alerts when phishing attempts are detected.
Check Point’s automated screening tools have a high success rate of intercepting unauthorized access attempts. Recently, it was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Firewalls, Q4 2022 and recognized for “excelling in overall security performance with superior malware analysis and intrusion prevention systems.” Forrester emphasized that “Settings for policy creation can greatly simplify good security policy.”
Avoiding the Consequences of Insider Threats
If your organization hasn’t found effective ways to prevent insider risk, you can’t afford to wait. An internal threat could interrupt your business continuity, dealing a devastating blow to your company’s operations and reputation.
Derive Technologies can help you plan for preventing insider threats by conducting a free security assessment. During the assessment, one of our security analysts checks for vulnerabilities, such as inadequate access controls. After the assessment, we can provide your company with corrective recommendations, including holding training sessions to improve employee security awareness.
As a Cisco Premier Certified Partner, Derive Technologies can provide your company with the leading network security solutions you need to prevent insider threats. We also partner with Check Point, a top provider of security software for the automated detection of unauthorized access attempts. (Derive itself uses Check Point technology solutions.)
By combining industry-leading partners like Check Point with its own technology expertise, Derive Technologies has established a successful security practice that helps our customers prevent both internal and external threats.
