"A preliminary examination of insider threat programs in the US private sector"

Sep 16, 2013 17:41 GMT  ·  By

The Cyber Council Insider Threat Task Force of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) has published a white paper called “A Preliminary Examination of Insider Threat Programs in the US Private Sector.”

The study is based on in-depth interviews with 13 private sector organizations in the United States. It analyzes insider threat mitigation programs and encourages others to take part in the creation of a holistic program that addresses the threat posed by insiders to national security.

“From this white paper, we’ve learned that the private sector’s insider threat mitigation programs are quite diverse and vary in complexity, further illustrating the need for a more widely accepted definition of what a formal insider threat mitigation program is, so that best practices and results can be shared,” INSA President Ambassador Joseph DeTrani said.

“The INSA Insider Threat Task Force’s paper reminds us that at the core of any insider threat is a person and, as a result, measures to protect against threats must also focus on human psychological events and indicators, as well as technology-based indicators, like tracking online activity or phone records.”

Despite the fact that the government has started focusing on the development insider threat mitigation programs, currently, there are no standards or benchmarks for private sector companies.

“Business organizations received a wakeup call in response to recent, high profile events on the potential impacts and vulnerabilities of an insider threat,” INSA Cyber Council Insider Threat Task Force Chair Dawn Cappelli said.

“However, prior to the publication of the Preliminary Examination of Insider Threat Programs in the U.S. Private Sector white paper, no preliminary data was available for private sector companies to gauge where to begin or assess what their peers were doing to mitigate insider threat,” Cappelli added.

“With this white paper, INSA hopes to focus the conversation moving forward on the strategy and solutions that will help protect the industry against insider threats.”

Download “A Preliminary Examination of Insider Threat Programs in the US Private Sector” from INSA’s website.