Insider Threat
What is Insider Threat?
Insider ThreatThe risk that a current or former employee, contractor, or partner with authorised access misuses it to cause harm, intentionally or by negligence.
Insider threats fall into three patterns. Malicious insiders deliberately exfiltrate data, sabotage systems, commit fraud, or sell access; common motives include money, revenge, ideology, or coercion. Negligent insiders cause incidents through poor security hygiene (mishandled documents, weak passwords, mis-sent emails, shadow IT). Compromised insiders are legitimate users whose accounts have been taken over by external attackers. Detection programs combine HR signals, UEBA, DLP, privileged-access monitoring, separation of duties, and need-to-know policies. Notable cases include the 2013 Edward Snowden NSA disclosures, the 2010 Chelsea Manning leaks to WikiLeaks, and many ransomware-deployment cases where employees are recruited or extorted by external gangs.
● Examples
- 01
A departing engineer copies source code and customer lists to a personal cloud drive before resigning.
- 02
A help-desk employee is socially engineered by a ransomware crew to reset MFA on a privileged account.
● Frequently asked questions
What is Insider Threat?
The risk that a current or former employee, contractor, or partner with authorised access misuses it to cause harm, intentionally or by negligence. It belongs to the Defense & Operations category of cybersecurity.
What does Insider Threat mean?
The risk that a current or former employee, contractor, or partner with authorised access misuses it to cause harm, intentionally or by negligence.
How does Insider Threat work?
Insider threats fall into three patterns. Malicious insiders deliberately exfiltrate data, sabotage systems, commit fraud, or sell access; common motives include money, revenge, ideology, or coercion. Negligent insiders cause incidents through poor security hygiene (mishandled documents, weak passwords, mis-sent emails, shadow IT). Compromised insiders are legitimate users whose accounts have been taken over by external attackers. Detection programs combine HR signals, UEBA, DLP, privileged-access monitoring, separation of duties, and need-to-know policies. Notable cases include the 2013 Edward Snowden NSA disclosures, the 2010 Chelsea Manning leaks to WikiLeaks, and many ransomware-deployment cases where employees are recruited or extorted by external gangs.
How do you defend against Insider Threat?
Defences for Insider Threat typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.
What are other names for Insider Threat?
Common alternative names include: Insider risk, Trusted insider threat.
● Related terms
- defense-ops№ 1145
Threat Actor
An individual or group that intentionally causes or attempts to cause harm to information systems, organisations, or people through cyber operations.
- privacy№ 278
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
A set of technologies and policies that detect and block unauthorized exfiltration of sensitive data across endpoints, networks, email, and cloud services.
- identity-access№ 861
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
A set of practices and tools that secure, control, monitor, and audit access to accounts and systems with elevated administrative privileges.
- defense-ops№ 1189
UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics)
A detection technology that profiles normal behavior of users and entities, then surfaces statistical or machine-learning anomalies that may indicate compromise or insider risk.
- attacks№ 1065
Social Engineering
The psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or disclosing confidential information that benefits an attacker.
- defense-ops№ 901
Ransomware Gang
A financially motivated cybercriminal group that develops, operates, or distributes ransomware to extort organisations through file encryption and data leak threats.
● See also
- № 068ATM Jackpotting