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FINAL WORD
How C-level
execs can better
understand
insider risk
In the digital era, it is easy to be blinded by
the lights of new technologies. However, this
can cause us to disregard the factors which
pose a threat to insider risk. Tony Pepper, CEO,
Egress, discusses insider breach risks and
suggests the way we understand and manage
insider risk needs to change to comply with
today’s data security challenges.
I
nsider data breach risk has existed for as long as companies
have but its nature, impact and a business’ ability to control it
has changed dramatically in the digital data-driven age. As a
valuable commercial asset, data is a target for theft by malicious
actors within and outside the business, while as a regulated liability,
it must also be protected from accidental loss or exposure. Data
security is a board-level concern and gaining a better understanding
of insider breach risk helps directors ensure it is managed effectively.
The digital workplace puts data on the front line
The first step in understanding the evolution of insider breach risk is
to acknowledge the effect of unprecedented transformation of the
workplace and employees’ relationship with technology and data.
Increased mobility and the rise of remote, flexible working mean
human-digital interaction is near constant. This blurs the lines
between work and homelife, creating an ‘always-on’ culture where
employees juggle diverse priorities simultaneously.
At the same time, data volumes have increased exponentially
and businesses have become hyperconnected, providing workers
with multiple channels for data sharing. Yet, despite these
immense changes, employees remain the same; as fallible and
fundamentally human as ever. So, we’re looking at a world where a
single mistake made by a pressured employee – a mistyped email
address or response to a phishing email – can cause an accidental
breach of huge scale and devastating impact, while employees
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