A company's own employees are a significant factor in the majority of data breaches, either through malicious activity or avoidable mistakes, say two new studies, but companies aren't doing enough to address this issue.
Regardless of your industry, the size of your organization, or the type of business you have, insider threat is a menacing reality. In most organizations, this threat has been undervalued, underestimated and underfunded. It's the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about because it means acknowledging that one of your own employees might take you for a ride. And, it requires taking several challenging and, to some, uncomfortable steps to combat.
Trade secrets are increasingly becoming a company's most valuable assets, and not surprisingly, threats to those assets have increased concomitantly. The greatest threat to company data is, of course, not outsiders but a company's own employees A company's ability to protect against rogue employees (as well as against unintentional harm) is governed by both federal and state laws, which vary by jurisdiction and, worse, are in a state of flux in many of those jurisdictions.