The risks posed by individuals within an organization, whether malicious or unintentional.
An insider threat is a security risk that originates from within the targeted organization. It typically involves a current or former employee, contractor, or business partner who has authorized access to the organization's network, systems, or data and misuses that access to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the organization's information or systems. Insider threats can be categorized into two main types: malicious and unintentional. A malicious insider is someone who knowingly and intentionally uses their legitimate access to steal data, commit fraud, or disrupt operations. This can be motivated by revenge, financial gain, or ideology. For example, a disgruntled employee might steal sensitive customer data before leaving the company to sell to a competitor. An unintentional (or accidental) insider threat is a person who does not mean to cause harm but does so through negligence, error, or by being tricked. This is the more common type of insider threat. Examples include an employee falling for a phishing scam and accidentally revealing their credentials, misconfiguring a cloud database and exposing sensitive data to the public internet, or losing a company laptop that contains unencrypted confidential information. Detecting and mitigating insider threats is challenging because these individuals already have legitimate access. Defenses rely on a layered approach, including implementing the principle of least privilege (giving users only the access they absolutely need), monitoring user activity for anomalous behavior, providing regular security awareness training, and fostering a positive work culture.