Rather than monitoring every activity by every user, many employers have begun looking at insider risk indicators to identify risky behavior. As it turns out, workers prone to causing breaches fall into three broad categories—and you can do your part by watching out for colleagues who fit these profiles.

1. The Over-Sharer. We all know a few—folks from the office who always seem to email a document to a wide distribution. Or they upload a file to a cloud service, or post sensitive information in an unauthorized application. They think they’re helping by giving people quick access to valuable information. These people aren’t malicious, but rather prone to poor judgment or human error. Nevertheless, their actions may result in costly data breaches that keep security pros up at night. 

2. One Foot Out the Door. Make no mistake: people who’ve decided to leave the company and take critical information with them are only looking out for themselves. The data may consist of projects they’ve worked and want to save in their portfolio. Or a database of customers they could migrate to a competitor. Or even just a report with a great format they’d like to duplicate in their new job. Regardless, any info they take with them can negatively impact your organization’s ability to do business, compete fairly, and protect customer privacy.  

3. The Troublemaker. While rare, these insiders are among the most disruptive in the bunch. There are a few varieties of troublemakers, including a mole or insider for hire.Troublemakers are often profit-motivated, simply selling corporate information. Or they may be engaged in corporate espionage. Maybe they have political motivations, seeking to disrupt or sabotage the company.

© National Security Institute, Inc. www.nsi.org