Today Clea Ostendorf from Code42‘s blog takes us into their Industry Insights section to discuss and take a good look at some real-life examples of the inside thread; people who pose a security risk from within your company. The post titled 11 Real-Life Insider Threat Examples is discussed as follows:
Though it may not seem all that complex, the realm of insider threats contain a multitude of angles which have potential to be of great security risk. Insider Threats are typically divided up into six types: departing employees, malicious insiders, negligent workers, security evaders, inside agents, and third-party partners. Ostendorf explores each category in detail, shedding light on how these threats can manifest and potentially lead to data breaches.
As is the case with other avenues of attack, insider threat cases are studied not only to illustrate the gravity of the issue, but also to develop methods to avoid similar situations. Notable incidents discussed by Ostendorf include a former Tesla employees leaking sensitive data, a departing Yahoo businessperson stealing trade secrets, a negligent Microsoft engineer exposing login credentials through GitHub, and a departing Google employee bringing company data along with himself to a new employer for a competitive edge.
“….a departing Google employee bringing company data along with himself to a new employer…”
– Clea Ostendor, Code42
The blog emphasizes the diverse sources of insider threats, extending beyond in-house hired individuals to include partners, vendors, and external parties with inside access. Clea’s post stresses the importance of understanding how these threats manifest to effectively safeguard a company from potential breaches, protecting its reputation, success, customers, and employees.
Leave a Reply