Insider vs. Outsider Data Security Threats: Defining And Mitigating Potential Risks

We are living in the Information Era. Data has become the most valuable asset and the most strategic resource for individuals, businesses, and governments.

Information today represents a powerful tool for forming an opinion. Data, among other things, is the driving force behind the improvement, innovation, and competition of our society.

For business owners, in particular, data determines the management effectiveness and overall success of an enterprise. Not to mention that data recoverability is just as important as data loss prevention to avoid business disruption. 

How exactly? Once a proper understanding of the current tendencies and demand comes into play, it can get your offer closer to your target audience’s needs. It can noticeably increase the ROI of your company and make it many times easier for you to take control over your positions in the rivalry.

At the same time, however, the consequences related to data loss, data theft, or leakage, increase proportionally to the value of that information. 

This is why, given our today’s customer-centric, digitally-driven world, it is in your immediate interest to do everything possible to mitigate potential risks. 

Top Summary: Our personal and business data are our most valuable assets. But data is just as valuable for cybercriminals. Data security threats can come from within or inadvertently be given access from the outside in. As data breaches and ransomware are on the rise, it is crucial to map out insider and outsider threats.  

The Most Damaging Data Security Threat

The question of whether outsiders or insiders pose a greater security risk remains a subject of ongoing discussion. 

While Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report stated that 80% of cyberattacks were carried out by outsiders (against less than 20% of malfeasance with insiders being involved). 

The figures reveal the question only from a statistical perspective. On the other hand, the majority of cybersecurity experts come out with insider threats being more serious for they’re always harder to detect.

What’s more, according to the Ponemon Institute’s 2022 Cost of Insider Threats publication, in 2021 the average worth of insider-caused incidents was $15.4 million.  This means more than twice compared to the global average outgoings of all breaches recorded the same year. 

Financial institutions, public administration at government agencies, and the healthcare sector are the main targets. Therefore, establishing strict protocols for meeting the industry requirements, like HIPAA or GSA compliance, should be mandatory.

We can’t emphasize enough that data security requires redoubled efforts from business leaders for the data to be properly secured.

Summary: Cyberattacks most frequently come from outside. However, the inside threats- intentional or not – are more damaging and costly.  

Insider Threats

Also known as Malicious Insider, this menace may be represented by an individual, or group of people, that has legitimate access to an organization’s system, network, or data on a regular basis. 

Insider Threats are mostly associated with former or current employees, contractors, and collaborators. It can also refer to other business partners that are well-aware of where the sensitive information is stored, and how it is protected.

Insider Threats can be portioned out into 5 main categories: 

Nonresponders 

Staff members that are immune to security training. Not usually ill-intentioned, they still can end up involved in security breaches caused by their negligence, or mere unknowingness. Studies reveal that users who have fallen prey to phishing schemes in the past are more likely to go down that road again.

Inadvertent actors 

Workers that unintentionally cause breaches due to misjudgments, forgetfulness, or accidents whereas being in general compliant with policy and showing good security behaviors.

Insider collusion 

A couple of engineers stealing product plans and then quitting to embark on their own competitor enterprise is a good example of insider collusion. It also applies to employees recruited by cybercriminals (usually to steal information).

Persistent malicious actors 

The so-called “second streamers”. These refer to workers that seek additional income. Instead of performing large data transfers that may raise flags in traditional network monitoring tools, these are more likely to be exfiltrating data in order to avoid detection and maximize the personal benefits.

Disgruntled employees

The last category may refer to many behavioral sub-patterns but is ordinarily focused on frustrated employees — and telic, deliberate sabotage, or intellectual property theft they commit.

In the end, there is a reason for 92% of IT leaders reported considering their organizations vulnerable to insider threats — as was shown in the Insider Threat Report published by Vormetric. 

The human endpoint is not as easy to predict or monitor as systems are. Therefore, insider threats are the most vulnerable and weakest link in the data security chain. 

Summary: For the most part, attackers tend to focus on the Nonresponders and Inadvertent Actors categories described above since they represent an exploitable vulnerability. It is important to conceive that insider risks include, but aren’t limited to just employees. Those can also be colleagues, suppliers, contractors, or even volunteers that work for the company. 

Insider Threats: Detecting Risks and Responding

Since Insider Threats are versatile, there’s no single approach, or patch, that would reduce to zero all the risks related to human behavior. 

Given that, increased awareness of human threats along with tools for behavioral analytics are the two most reliable ways for defending against insider menaces within the company.

Data Protection

Both negligence and criminal intent pose risks to the most valuable (and hence vulnerable) data in the organization. To ensure transparency, companies need to discover and classify at-risk assets. 

As stated in the previously mentioned Fortinet’s report, customer data (62%), intellectual property (56%), and financial information (52%) are considered to be the most vulnerable assets. 

Using continuous monitoring and cognitive analytics should help you protect this sensitive data from all categories of cybersecurity threats.

Adopt Cognitive Analytics

Whereas employees act deeply individually on a network, changes in individual behavior patterns may envision actual risk. 

Being able to detect changes in subtle patterns of a person’s workplace habits and predict potential risks is key. Advanced AI technologies coupled with behavioral analytics represent outstanding tools used to mitigate all types of Insider Threats.

Mark Risk Scores

Assigning risk scores is another useful feature offered by cognitive analytics applications. Effective in potential insider risks being proactively identified, they’re able to track when employees are at heightened risk for error or criminal behavior. 

Enterprises can respond with tightening access management (or even resort to account quarantine in order to prevent data loss).

Decrease Vulnerabilities

Another forceful way to address basic threats and patch existing gaps in data protection is proper security hygiene. 

Contribute to transparency and data security around critical assets by maintaining continual compliance. 

In addition, be sure to patch and monitor the networks in order to reveal hacked systems. Detect employee threats from the moment they occur — instead of having to fight the consequences a few months later.

Mitigate Internal Threats 

While ransomware, cryptojacking, and other external menaces are among the most widely-discussed security issues, insiders remain the cause of the majority of data breaches. 

With all the aforementioned, creating adequate protection against insider risks to a large extent lies in the comprehension of the enormous variation in human behavior. 

Summary: There are many measures that you can take to provide your vital data with the highest possible level of security. Data security technologies and tools are easy to implement, but insider threats are harder to control as they involve human behavior.  

Outsider Threats

Comprising well-funded intruders and hackers, organized cybercrime groups, and government entities, Outsider Threats pose no less serious menace to the organization’s data. 

Outsider risks are mainly associated with active cyberattacks. That implies participating in the network or generating packets — whereas passive ones involve tracking users, or eavesdropping on the network.

Cyber Espionage, Cyber Warfare, and Hacktivism are the main motives that rest behind this field of cybercrime. 

Understanding of tactics and methods used by hackers is particularly crucial for mitigating the potential risks since these attackers are aggressive and persistent. 

For instance, you should be informed about cybercriminals tending to target corporate data that is disposed of in volume: according to found within 2019 Insider Threat Report: Trends and Analysis published by Fortinet, databases (56%) and corporate file servers (54%) pose the highest risk, followed by endpoints (51%) and mobile devices (50%).

Summary: Active or Passive cyberattacks can cost a lot to overcome, even if a ransom payout is not demanded. Data protection starts with awareness and education on tactics and methods used by hackers who are after corporate data. 

Data Protection Plan

If you look up ways to address these insider and outsider threats, you’ll come across thousands of articles allegedly offering proven step-by-step guidelines to protect your data. But how to determine if these means are sufficient to combat the multitude of possible threats?

The truth, however, lies in a comprehensive, threat-centric approach to data security. An All-Purpose Data Protection Plan that provides in-depth visibility, permanent control, and advanced menaces protection regardless of where they are originating. 

To deploy this security model, you’ll need to look for technologies that are based on the following fundamentals: 

Visibility-driven

When it comes to the assessment of security technologies, depth and breadth of visibility are equally crucial to gain across-the-board insight on environments and risks. Security administrators must be capable of seeing everything that is happening. 

Inquire if the technologies your vendors provide will let you see and gather data from a full spectrum of potential attacks (such as the network fabric, mobile devices, email encryption and web gateways, endpoints, virtual environments, and the cloud). 

These technologies must also offer depth, which is the ability to correlate the collected data and understand the context in order to make better decisions. 

Threat-focused

Modern networks broaden to information like what the data is, and where can it be accessed from. Keeping pace with persistently improving cyber attack vectors might be quite a challenge for security professionals, which, in the long run, can affect the ability to combat Insider and Outsider Threats. 

Policies are essential to diminish the area of attack, but breaches still happen. Look for technologies that allow you to detect, understand, and stop threats once they’ve ‘gotten into the network. 

Being threat-focused means thinking like an attacker, that is to apply visibility, understand and adapt to changes in the environment, and then evolve reliable protections to stop threats. 

Platform-based 

Security now requires an integrated system of open and agile platforms which covers all — the network, the cloud, and devices. Look for a security platform that is extensible, scalable, and can be centrally managed for consistent controls. 

This is particularly crucial for the breaches that often stem from the same vulnerabilities in spite of whether they were caused by insider or outsider’s actions. 

This requires shifting from the deployment of simple point security instruments that create security gaps to the integration of a platform that provides scalable services and applications which are easy to deploy, monitor, and manage.

Summary: As cyberattacks become more frequent and sophisticated, businesses must invest in a comprehensive Data Protection Plan. Data Security technologies must give an in-depth view of all endpoints and responses must be tailored to each type of threat. 

Vital business data is always at risk, whether of an insider, outsider –  or both – threats.  However, even strict protocols, compliance, and due diligence may fail. In case data loss happened, rely on SalvageData’s experience for fast data recovery. Just contact us for a free consultation on your case no matter what was it caused by — and let the ransomware professionals take care of the rest.