Insider Threats
According to statistics insider threats pose the most potential for damage to data and network infrastructure. Do you agree? Or would you say the threat is external? What policies and procedures would you put into place to protect against these threats?
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
Be 3-4 pages in length, not including the cover page and reference page.
ccording to statistics insider threats pose the most potential for damage to data and network infrastructure. Do you agree? Or would you say the threat is external? What policies and procedures would you put into place to protect against these threats?
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
Be 3-4 pages in length, not including the cover page and reference page.
Introduction
The insider versus outsider threat is an ongoing debate that continues to play a role in organizational policy formulation. The world of network infrastructure and risk associated with network security is dynamic and always evolving. As such policy makers need to be aware of the role research plays in creating accurate approaches to risk mitigation. Organizations across the world have a variety of policies formulated to protect against outsider breach generally because it is easy to detect the breach and use a one-size-fits all measures. Giandomenico and Groot (2020) identify that of the two types of threats (Insider and Outsider), outsider threats are the most publicized and increasingly easily mitigated through traditional security measures. It is the insider threat that is hard to identify, detect or even mitigate since their origin usually is based on people who are fully aware of the system and potential regions for failures. Insider threats summarily represent threats that originate from within the company.
They may be propagated through malicious intent, frustrated employees, or even in the case of organizations that apply BYOD policies, they can be propagated unknowingly when employees are not able to fully secure their devices out of work. As such, unlike the outsider threat, insider threats are much harder to mitigate, detect since in their intrinsic form, they are unique and may not be similar to execution. A holistic approach to security and training of employees and people with access to the system needs to be implemented (Giandomenico and Groot, 2020). The security approach needs to be modern and considerate of the changing technology climate across the world. This is in a bid to create accurate and fully aware of the system and essential places of failure.
Insiders within an organization have access to sensitive information on various procedures within the company. In cases where they feel unsatisfied with elements within the organization, they may have an easier time to access the information and leak it or steal or compromise it. Researchers and policy makers need to pay attention to technological innovation, training and standards across the internet in formulating better policies. Organizations have the legal rights to monitor employee activity especially if they are compensating the same employees for work done. Concurrently they have an obligation to achieve profit using all legal means, and one way to do this is allowing their employees to bring their own devices to work. Companies’ goal in implementing monitoring policies is to increase employee “flexibility, convenience, and portability of devices in order to cater to their employees’ workflows, which increase their productivity and morale” (Dhingra, 2016, p179). Providing employees with good working conditions is a holistic approach to the problem. It categorically works to boost organizational and employee goal association. Making them more likely to appreciate their role within the organization.
The main issue surrounds employee monitoring and how companies navigate personal and company information access. Vallor and Rewak (2013) identify that numerous organizations continue to experience the challenges of monitoring their employees, using intrusive softwares, while also trying to navigate against making unjustifiable intrusion that might compromise the integrity and privacy of their employees’ personally identifiable information. In organizations that use personal employee devices employers have been cited to make intrusive measures that have often compromised employee data. Porteous (2020) acknowledges that organizations have the right to monitor, but in most cases, the employee monitoring softwares has been very intrusive and aggressive. This is a factor that they should consider in implementing some of these policies and technology.
In cases where an employee lost their device, the company fearing the content getting to the wrong hand, can implement a remote wipe protocol and clear the employees device. They should navigate this process with much caution to avoid also compromising employee PII such as pictures and other important health documents (Dhingra, 2016). This can be contrary to the employees’ needs. Dhingra (2016) additionally states that in efforts made to detect security breach most employees PII were captured and some lost in the process. Gurnato (2011) identifies in most cases employees have little protection against employers electronic monitoring even in their own devices which always lead to employee-employer conflict in the workplace.
Employers can also restrict employees from using Cameras or recorders on their own devices in the workplace, or monitor their emails and restrict authorization to private content especially at work all of which have been very effective in bringing about conflict. A holistic process not only considers the employees’ needs but also the company’s goals and needs. The company could for example implement: Data categorization. Providing data categorization works to create castes by access and authorization. It limits employees who access certain regions of the system and logs in their reason for access. This is a form of employee monitoring that is also effective as it gives administrators accountability. Better training of employees in their role as system administrators and managers is also a critical aspect of security protocols. This may include provision of simulated scenarios for the system breach in order to identify potential risks involved with employee access. Constant and honest evaluation of employee activities will also be a required element in employers. Device encryption and password need to be provided and constantly updated in an effort to increase surveillance and mitigate from breaches or internal failures.
Insider threat is far much riskier than outsider threat. This is because it does not follow a predefined procedure. Rather it may be brought about by a variety of reasons and its risks are company wide. Application of better policies on monitoring and encryption is a required approach in preventing insider threat risks.
References
Dhingra, M. (2016). Legal Issues in Secure Implementation of Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD). Retrieved 24 November 2020, from
https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/280203/1…
Giandomenico, N & Groot (2020). Insider vs. Outsider Data Security Threats: What’s the Greater
Risk? from https://digitalguardian.com/blog/insider-outsider-data-security-threats
Porteous, C. (2020). Can Employee Monitoring Be Done Ethically?. Retrieved 24
November 2020, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/356544
Vallor, Ph.D., S., & Rewak, S.J., W. (2013). An Introduction to Cyber Security Ethics.
Santa Clara University. doi: https://www.scu.edu/media/ethics-center/technology-
ethics/IntroToCybersecurityEthics.pdf
