How to protect your network from malicious insiders

You may be putting your company at risk simply by hiring a new employee. Why? Because that person could have a hidden, malicious agenda.

This is known as an inside threat, and it means that someone within your organization is planning or conducting activities meant to harm the company.

There is a pattern that most insider threats use: The first step is to gain access to the company's system. Once they have access to the network, they will investigate it and seek out any vulnerable areas. The malicious insider then sets up a workstation to control the scheme and spread the destruction.

What type of destruction can you expect? The hacker could introduce malware or they could steal or delete critical information, all of which can be damaging to your business. Fortunately, there are ways to protect business from these types of hacks.

Most companies protect their IT systems with firewalls, anti-virus programs, data backup software and even spyware-scanning technology. The problem is that these technologies only work when hackers are trying to get information from the outside.

One way to protect against insider threats is to ensure that employees can only access the data necessary to do their jobs. You should look at the flow of data throughout the organization to determine how information is shared and where it becomes vulnerable to theft or other security breaches. Then work with each department to implement the proper security controls.

The process of preventing data loss begins with discovering the data, classifying it, and then deciding how much risk your company may face if the data gets out. Some of the tools and procedures you may want to consider for protection include:

• System-wide encryption
• Password management
• Device recognition
• Access controls
• Data disposal

It's important to create security policies and procedures that are easy for employees to understand. The more transparent these policies are, the more effective your departments will be when communicating what they want and need.

How can you mitigate insider threats? Tune into the Carbonite webinar that I'll be hosting live on Wednesday, March 15th at 11 am ET, to learn how. Register here: http://go.carbonite.com/security-threat/blog