by Chris Wraight

Whether the rumors that the Google breach was an inside job end up being true or not, just the discussion highlights what a serious issue the insider threat can be.  As technology to detect and block threats continues to evolve, it will become easier to pay someone on the inside to find vulnerabilities or do the job for you than it will to find a way in from the outside. It's similar to social engineering, but the insider is paid to act in a malicious way.

Technology should be put into place to limit employee access and activity. While it is important for companies to trust their employees, they should only allow them access to the data and systems they need to do their jobs. Some regulations require this! Appropriate controls and software should be in place to control access and monitor activity of all sensitive systems.

The insider threat is not going to go away. It will continue to grow as an alternative or complementary method to gain access to systems and data. So the time to take action is now - before someone is swayed by the Dark Side.

Chris Wraight has spent 25+ years in the technology world in various positions of product management, marketing and sales. He is currently working on CA Inc.'s Access Control security product in its Security Management business. Chris has a B.S. in Management with Computer Applications from WPI.