A Fraud Series - Part Six: Insider Threat Security

An insider threat is a vulnerability of a system resulting from people within the organization. This can be intentional or unintentional: accidental breaches due to negligence or phishing are possible. An employee’s credentials can be stolen or hacked, allowing access into the system from the inside. This makes it very difficult to stop such an attack, since the attacker already has the necessary means to bypass the security layer. This is partly why some estimate up to 60% of data breaches are a result of insider threats. Because insider threats often lead to data breaches, their mitigation is a priority. As we will explain below, the Connected Toolkit helps users find these threats and predict where they will happen in the future.

There are methods many companies use to alleviate this issue. Take the example from our last blog post:

“Maybe if a company has seen an increase in phishing emails to its employees in a given week, it’s possible a group is trying to compromise their system. Maybe the company being attacked can send out alerts, or try to filter these newer phishing emails."

Having trustworthy employees alone will not solve the issue, as they can be manipulated or let their guard down. Training employees on how fraudsters operate is a widely used tactic as well. But even then employees will let their guard down. Furthermore, attackers' techniques become more sophisticated as they learn to adapt to what works and what doesn’t. This can be difficult to keep up with even with extensive training. Developing a system to react to existing threats and block potential threats is essential. Sending out alerts, for example, can help remind employees to remain aware of suspicious emails or phone calls.

Using the Connected Toolkit, we can use data from within a company’s system to predict where potential insider threats will occur. This is a huge upgrade to the world of sending out alerts to remind employees to remain aware. We can use data from existing patterns and learn from new patterns to stay ahead of many forms of insider threats. With a combination of training and security, our system provides a powerful tool to combat fraud.