The term insider threats used to spark images of malicious employees stealing copies of filesor looking at information they weren’t supposed to, but in today’s complex world of technology, insider threats have evolved.
According to a preliminary version of the Verizon 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report, 92 percent of attacks analyzed were external in origin, with hacking and malware playing a part in 99 percent of reported incidents. Today’s criminal hackers often use malware , or just plain old-fashioned con games, to gain the trust of employees and subsequently entice them to share sensitive information that will allow the hacker to gain access to the companies’ information. It can be as simple as pretending to be a fellow co-worker and coercing an employee to share sensitive information, such as a password, or as complex as a bogus email containing malware, but either way you slice it, outsiders are becoming more creative at finding their way in.
In situations like this having the right privilege identity management policies in place can mean the difference between protecting your organization and facing a major security risk. By only allowing employees access to information that is necessary for them to perform their jobs, organizations are mitigating the risk of sensitive information being shared with the wrong person. For more information, click here.
Scott Lang, Sr. Director, Product Marketing at BeyondTrust
Scott Lang has nearly 20 years of experience in technology product marketing, currently guiding the product marketing strategy for BeyondTrust’s privileged account management solutions and vulnerability management solutions. Prior to joining BeyondTrust, Scott was director of security solution marketing at Dell, formerly Quest Software, where he was responsible for global security campaigns, product marketing for identity and access management and Windows server management.
