When it comes to cybersecurity, a lot of network access is based upon the assumption of trust. Networks trust that users have access, are the person that they say they are, and will use the network access for appropriate reasons. In the same way, the user trusts that everything on the network is safe.
The same goes for when businesses employ new people. To hire someone, you are trusting that they will act appropriately with company resources and will exercise their best judgement when it comes to safety and security, and treat the business as priority.
Trusting other people, or artificial intelligences such as networks and software programmes, can alleviate anxiety. However, the brutal honesty of the matter is that trust can easily be broken. Here, we will discuss why the real cybersecurity threat might not be those anonymous hacker criminals in balaclavas but could be inside your company.
Malicious insider
The worst-case scenario is that an employee can intentionally exploit the access they have to your company’s and user’s data. To make sure that this doesn’t happen, make sure to do a background check on anyone who might have access to sensitive information. At the very least, when presented with any right to work documentation, check to make sure that their identity is correct.
What is an insider threat?
An insider threat can refer to a malicious insider leaking classified documents or stealing data, but the more serious insider threats are often down to negligence or inadequate security practices. Perhaps an accidental action may compromise the entire organisation, allowing hackers or cybercriminals easy pickings.
It could be as simple as losing a USB drive, giving away their password, sending the wrong file to someone they shouldn’t have, or opening sensitive information on unsecured public networks. These things might seem like nothing – but it opens the door for people to access your data.
To stop this from happening, consider a multi-level cloud and endpoint security package like Wandera. The Wandera Private Access removes all need for trust in a network scenario. Users must be authenticated before they can access the network, and everything on the network is guaranteed to be safe.
This zero-trust cloud security solution can allow adaptive access to your cloud applications based on device risk and contextual policies. It allows your in-house IT team to restrict access to apps and data from unsecured and infected devices, deploying all changes instantly. This means when an attack happens, you will know in real time, and you will be able to block the threat instantly.
Especially as the holidays are upon us, and we have had a year full of remote working and all the struggles that come with it, device and network security for businesses has never been more important. Though we often have systems in place to protect ourselves from external threats, we often forget about the insider ones.
To combat insider threats, make sure to have proper security protocols in place, and make sure to keep all staff up to date and fully trained in internet security.
