Speed is of the utmost importance when it comes to the investigation of potential insider threats to your company. It not only saves your organization money from potential damages as a result of a breach, but it also saves man-hours which can be allocated to other projects or to shore up defenses in other ways. However, learning how to optimize your assessment and investigation processes is a significant challenge in itself, and it’s easy for a team to fall back on tried and true techniques regardless of their efficiency – or even their effectiveness. Here’s a closer look at some best practices you should be promoting within your insider risk management team to assess and investigate potential threats more quickly.
Timely, Relevant Notifications
A robust alert system is an important tool to have when dealing with insider threats, but as we detailed in a previous blog, alert fatigue has the potential to overwhelm your team if the system is not optimized properly. An alert is the first indication that something is amiss, and this indication should be the catalyst for an investigation to take place. Your system needs to be able to recognize the specific patterns and behaviors that constitute an insider threat and send the alert to relevant parties as soon as possible.
Context Clues are Key
After being alerted to a potential threat, the next step for your team should be gathering additional information to piece together exactly what is happening or has happened. Context is everything, and most alert systems will not provide the level context needed to make an accurate assessment of the situation. Investing in tools that are built specifically to manage insider threats will help in getting more of the key information you need faster.
Understanding “Why”
We have observed that there are plenty of motivations that drive a potential insider threat to act the way that they do. It is up to your team to figure out why exactly the perpetrator has done what they did. This can be complex, but in the long run it is beneficial to your organization because it allows you to plug up any potential security holes in your system. For instance, one of the most common reasons that insider incidents occur is through a simple lack of knowledge on the part of the employee. When an alert leads to a situation such as this, it tells the security team that more training and education may be needed in order to reinforce your security systems. This, in turn, can lead to fewer potential incidents in the future, saving your team even more time.
Contact ITMG to Assess Your Current Capabilities and Develop Strategies and Protocols Designed to Help Your Company Mitigate Your Insider Risk
ITMG is an industry leader in helping organizations throughout the United States strengthen their insider risk management programs and secure sensitive data and intellectual property. Our team of bona fide experts has the real-world experience necessary to plan out and create holistic security solutions tailored to the special needs and risks in your industry. Contact ITMG today to learn more about how we can help! You can also visit our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages for more updates and insights into the world of insider risk management.