Cyber Security Vol. 1

You might be thinking that you’ve done everything to protect your business from cyber threats. You have the most advanced security solutions to defend against external threats, but are you equally protected against internal threats?

Knowingly or unknowingly, your employees, your suppliers, your partners and even you could pose a threat to your business.

How?

A large majority of security breaches starts with just one click of a button… collectively millions of pounds lost in ransoms and business downtime –which is why it is crucial to protect your business from within.

Here, with my Cyber Chameleon A-Eye on everything – I’ll explain various internal threats, how to identify red flags, and most importantly, how to avoid them!

There are various types of insider threats, each with its own set of risks.

Here are some common threats:

1.      Data theft: Someone with privileged access to your company data, downloads, copies  or leaks sensitive data for personal gain or malicious purposes.

2.      Sabotage: Someone who deliberately damages, disrupts or destroys your company by deleting important files, infecting an organization’s devices or locking a business out of crucial systems by changing passwords.  

3.      Unauthorized access: This is essentially a breach of security when malicious actors such as hackers or even ex employees gain access to business-critical information.However, individuals can mistakenly access sensitive data unknowingly, too.

4.      Negligence &error: Both negligence and error lead to insider threats that can pose a security risk. While errors can be reduced through training, dealing with negligence would require a stricter level of enforcement.

5.      Credential sharing: Think of credential sharing as handing over the keys to your house to a friend. You can’t predict what they will do with it. They might just take some sugar or they might use your home for hosting a party. Similarly, sharing your confidential password with colleagues or friends throws up a lot of possibilities, including an increased risk of exposing your business to a cyberattack.

It’s crucial to identify insider threats early on. Keep an eye out for these tell-tale signs:

Unusual access patterns: An employee suddenly begins accessing confidential company information that is not relevant to their job.            

Excessive data transfers: An employee suddenly starts downloading a large volume of customer data and transfers it onto a memory stick.

Authorization requests: Someone repeatedly requests access to business-critical information even though their job role doesn’t require it.

Use of unapproved devices: Accessing confidential data using personal laptops or devices.

Disabling security tools: Someone from your organization disables their antivirus or firewall.  

Behavioral changes: An employee exhibits abnormal behaviors, such as suddenly missing deadlines or exhibiting signs of extreme stress.

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Here are my five steps to building a comprehensive cyber security framework that will ensure your business stays protected:

1.      Implement a strong password policy and encourage the use of multi-factor authentication wherever possible.

2.      Ensure employees can only access data and systems needed for their roles. Also, regularly review and update access privileges.

3.      Educate and train your employees on insider threats and security best practices.

4.      Back up your important data regularly to ensure you can recover from a data loss incident.

5.      Develop a comprehensive incident response plan that lays out the plan of action on how to respond to insider threat incidents.

Don’t feel that you need to fight these threats alone! Here at Cyber Chameleon we have the experience to implement a comprehensive and robust security measures that will help you on this journey!