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Security Expert: “In general, the greatest data security risk is posed to organizations by insiders, as they have access to sensitive information on a regular basis, and may know how that information is protected.”

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Joseph Steinberg is a cybersecurity expert and entrepreneur who founded the information security companies, Green Armor Solutions and SecureMySocial. He invented several popular cybersecurity technologies in use today, writes a column on cybersecurity for Inc., and is the author of several books on information security.

Q. “In general, the greatest data security risk is posed to organizations by…”

Insiders, as they have access to sensitive information on a regular basis, and may know how that information is protected. If they want to steal it or leak it they can usually do so with far greater ease than outsiders. Furthermore, insiders may also accidentally leak data or otherwise put it at risk – something that outsiders typically cannot do. Whether by attaching the wrong file to an email being sent, oversharing on social media, losing a laptop or USB drive, or through some other mistake, insiders can put an organization’s data at risk with little effort. 

Policies and technology can help address this risk, but without it, problems are likely to occur. Also, from a practical standpoint, any sizeable organization is likely to have some employees who are unhappy at work – meaning that there may be people who have access to data and who have a motive for leaking it. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule – certain military systems that can be accessed only by people who have passed robust background checks … 

Cleard.life: You can access the exception. Consider having your people pass a military-grade robust background check for your IT systems, when hiring and periodically after that.  

Source: 47 Security Experts weigh in the issue: https://digitalguardian.com/blog/insider-outsider-data-security-threats

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