Cyber ​​attacks caused by internal threats are causing problems for many organizations today. Assume that organizations affected by internal threats spend an average of $15.4 million per year to eliminate these threats, a 34 percent increase over the past 2 years. Siberasist General Manager Serap Günal underlines that the remote or hybrid work model increases cyber risks due to internal threats.

Because employees leave their institution and work from home, they take company data with them. This leads to increased cyber risks associated with threats from within. According to the latest research from the Ponemon Institute, the frequency of cyber-attack incidents per company has increased significantly compared to 2020. Siberasist General Manager Serap Günal, who draws attention to the fact that the number of cyber-attacks due to internal threats has increased in just two years. 44 percent, especially highlighting that 56 percent of insider threat incidents reported during the year are due to negligence. Günal states that the internal threats also lead to phishing attacks and give hackers access to a lot of data.

Negligent or malicious employees are high risk groups

Regardless of the industry, companies are always targeted by hackers for their financial and personal information. The work of hackers is facilitated by those who work consciously or unconsciously from time to time. While there may be malicious employees who use access to data for malicious, unethical or illegal activities, the vulnerabilities created by employees who lack adequate cybersecurity awareness can harm businesses. Serap Günal, pointing out that employees are increasingly accessing information to achieve maximum efficiency in the new work models developed after the pandemic, argues that this situation makes companies more vulnerable to cyber risks. Günal argues that detecting malicious insiders is more difficult than detecting external attackers or hackers, adding that there are important cybersecurity policies that companies must implement against internal threats.

1. The use of VPN or MFA should be mandatory. The use of VPN, which should be indispensable for employees’ devices, is very important for taking necessary precautions to connect corporate employees to corporate networks remotely and for data security. Two-factor authentication (MFA) should not be bypassed so that the security and control of the accounts is not in the hands of others.

2. Pay attention to the use of Wi-Fi.To minimize internal risks, it is necessary to avoid connecting to corporate data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks. A situation like the opposite creates a special invitation for hackers.

3. Employees must be monitored. Companies must specifically monitor their employees for unusual activity. This monitoring not only reveals data breaches, but also discourages employees from taking unnecessary risks. At the same time, access control and restrictions on employees and termination of access to unused data appear to be an important cybersecurity policy.

4. A permanent remote working policy should be put in place. The remote working policy needs to be recast and its scope changed. It should not be forgotten that establishing a strong policy is indispensable in the fight against internal threats.

5. Emphasis should be placed on employee training.Social engineering studies are one of the key elements that turn internal threats into attacks, especially in the period of remote working. Hackers perform an easy and profitable cyber attack on careless employees and unprotected devices. Currently, training employees is very important to minimize cyber risks.