The Saboteur Within

In many cases, the only thing preventing insiders from exploiting their privileged access and knowledge is the perception that their interests and the organization´s are aligned. If delivering a project on time or making a customer happy is in the insiders´ best interests, they will likely contribute and work toward a common goal. However, when individual and corporate goals aren´t clearly aligned, some segment of the workforce will have no qualms about passively or actively pursuing their own interests at their employer´s cost. Their knowledge of and access to the organization pose a substantial threat--probably greater than external threats.This is just another incarnation of what the security community has long called insider threats. This article discusses employees´ motivations for threatening their organizations and what organizations can do to prevent such actions.