Insider threats have emerged as a particularly insidious and costly problem. Organizations are experiencing a significant surge in cyberattacks originating from insider threats, with remediation costs soaring up to $2 million per incident.
Gurucul's research, which involved a survey of over 400 IT and cybersecurity professionals, highlights the growing issue of insider threats. In 2023, 60% of organizations reported insider attacks, but this figure escalated to 83% in 2024. Moreover, the number of organizations encountering six to ten attacks yearly doubled from 13% to 25%. Nearly half of the organizations surveyed by Gurucul indicated that insider attacks have become more frequent in the past year.
Understanding Insider Threats
Insider threats refer to security breaches from within an organization, typically involving employees, contractors, or business partners with legitimate access to the organization's systems and data. These threats can be malicious, such as employees intentionally stealing sensitive information, or unintentional, such as inadvertently exposing data through negligence or lack of awareness.
Factors Contributing to the Rise
Several factors contribute to the growing prevalence of insider threats. First, the complexity of modern IT environments makes it harder to detect and prevent unauthorized access. Second, the rise of remote work has expanded the attack surface, as employees access corporate networks from various locations and devices. Third, the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals means that traditional security measures are often insufficient to protect against advanced threats.
Mitigating Insider Threats
Gurucul researchers identified that the primary driver behind insider attacks is the increasing complexity of IT environments, which creates significant visibility gaps. As technology becomes more intricate, and with more employees accessing system networks, the attack surface expands, making it more challenging for cybersecurity staff to ensure protection.
Moreover, the rapid adoption of new technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), cloud services, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications also contributes to this growth, outpacing the ability of organizations to keep up.
Impact of New Tech
The introduction of new technologies adds layers of complexity, posing difficulties for existing staff to counter threats, leading to overwork and burnout among IT personnel. Nearly 30% of respondents indicated insufficient staffing to implement and maintain security tools, and even when adequate staff is available, many lack the training and expertise to manage these tools effectively.
The researchers recommended that organizations facing these challenges should transition to more intuitive tools that can "reduce alert triage and false positives by providing comprehensive evidence with context and advanced behavior analytics."