[BreachExchange] Yes, You Should Be Concerned about Rogue Employees (and Here’s Why)

[Inga Goddijn]

http://www.business2community.com/cybersecurity/yes-concerned-rogue-employees-heres-01854042#CRkOVcQSh0kHrmvl.97

In IT security, it’s often said that a company’s employees are its weakest
link. As technology grows increasingly user-friendly, and the rules of
digital “ownership” blur, rogue employees—those who don’t follow the
standard IT security rules for one reason or another—are emerging as a
significant threat to corporate security.

At your organization, IT assets are likely well-protected by firewalls,
network segmentation, and data security software, including email security,
antivirus, antimalware, and data loss prevention (DLP) solutions. But what
would happen if employees were intentionally sending valuable data
off-site? What impact would this type of rogue behavior have on overall IT
security?
The Threat

These days, there’s no question that you should be concerned about rogue
employees. They pose a real threat to your organization.

Consider a recent survey
<https://www.biscom.com/security-is-top-of-mind-in-our-2015-it-survey-results/>
that
found an astonishing 87 percent of employees admit to taking data they
created with them when they leave a company. The data ranges anywhere from
Microsoft Office documents to financial information, legal documents, and
multimedia. Most often, employees email data to themselves, use a secure
file transfer or FTP, or even take photos of documents using a smartphone.

A salesperson may take his contact list to use at his next job, or a
marketer may collect projects in process to add to her portfolio. A recent
case in the U.K.
<http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ef7d576f-b55e-44c1-b31b-c394add7d428>
provides
a real-life example: Before leaving her job to join a competitor, an
employee forwarded the details of 100 clients and potential clients to her
personal email, so she could leverage them in her new position.

Why do employees behave this way? In most cases, they are stealing
information intentionally, either because they feel entitled to it or
believe taking it is permissible. Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents
<https://www.biscom.com/security-is-top-of-mind-in-our-2015-it-survey-results/>
said
they take data because they feel that it is theirs. Seventy-seven percent
admitted that they thought the information would help them find or get
ahead in their next job.

As we discuss in our e-book “The 3 Types of Rogue Employees—and How to Stop
Them <http://info.identityautomation.com/rogue-employees-ebook>,” other
rogue employees are simply being careless with information, and a few are
bent on intentionally harming the company. Many feel less loyalty to a
company that they are leaving; others are flat-out bitter.

Security Concerns

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The actions of just a few rogue employees could put your organization in
serious jeopardy. In fact, a report by the International Business Times
<http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/rogue-employees-biggest-threat-information-security-1448250>
found
that 37 percent of IT professionals said rogue employees are the biggest
threat to information security—higher than external threats such as
cyberattacks and BYOD.

In our digital age, every company needs to protect its assets, especially
as data breaches and hacking attempts grow increasingly frequent and
sophisticated. With untold amounts of data streaming out your doors,
intellectual property, customer data, and other important information could
be out in the open, having circumvented all typical security measures.

This exposes you to potential data breaches, ransomware attacks, sabotage,
and more. In industries, such as healthcare and banking, where data privacy
is an absolute must, you may fall out of compliance. And, the potential
impact of these risks is far-reaching: lost revenue, tarnished reputation,
regulatory fines, and ruined careers.
What to Do about It

While it may be impossible to prevent every incident of employee data
theft, you can significantly reduce your company’s vulnerability to it. A
well-defined policy, combined with identity and access management (IAM),
can help to cut down on data leaks from apathetic or entitled employees,
while also combating the malicious ones.

Modern IAM solutions are vital for protecting a company against rogue
employees. Handling identity access on an as-needed basis leaves too many
gaps—and that’s how employees are able to steal important data.

A comprehensive IAM program includes key capabilities that provide full
lifecycle management of all users, which improves data security
company-wide:

   - Automated deprovisioning: When worker, full-time, part-time or even on
   contract leave an organization, their access to all systems, resources, and
   assets is automatically removed. This is particularly important for
   companies that use cloud-based systems and applications.


   - Automated role- and attribute-based entitlements: Often a user will be
   granted access to additional networks or systems for a certain job role or
   project. Without a full IAM program, that entitlement may be in place for
   as long as a user stays with the company. But modern IAM automates the
   addition and removal of entitlements based on roles and attributes. So, if
   an employee’s role shifts, his or her entitlements are automatically
   updated, closing gaps that otherwise encourage data theft.


   - Delegated administration: Modern IAM solutions delegate the
   administration of key systems, empowering managers or system owners to
   grant or revoke access. This eases the burden on IT, putting the power into
   the hands of the most appropriate people to monitor and manage access to
   sensitive data.
   - Audit trail: Tracking who accesses what, where, and when provides
   important evidence in the event that data is stolen. This capability can
   also be used proactively; for example, if your organization is anticipating
   layoffs and you want to keep a close eye on specific systems.

Together, these capabilities significantly increase protection of systems,
applications, and data. An effective IAM program discourages employees from
stealing information—regardless of their motivation.
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