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Eleven percent of companies in SA suffered malicious actions by staff

Cyber incidents caused by the human factor are usually attributed to occasional employee errors, but a more important element often overlooked is deliberate malicious behaviour by staff. A new Kaspersky study found that in the past two years, 82% of companies surveyed in South Africa have faced cyber incidents in different forms, 11% of which were caused by deliberate malicious behaviour by employees.

There are two main types of insider threats: unintentional and intentional. Unintentional or accidental threats are employee mistakes such as falling for phishing and other social engineering methods, or sending sensitive and confidential information to the wrong person, etc.

In contrast, intentional threats are perpetrated by malicious insiders who deliberately hack into their employer’s systems. They usually do so for financial gain from the sale of sensitive data or as an act of revenge. Malicious insiders aim to disrupt or stop an organisation's regular business operations, expose IT weaknesses and obtain confidential information.

Insiders with malicious intentions are the most dangerous employees who can provoke cyber incidents. Several factors complicate threats posed by their actions:

• Insiders have specific knowledge of an organisation’s infrastructure and processes, including understanding the information security tools used.

• They are already inside the company's network and do not need to penetrate the perimeter from outside via phishing, firewall attacks, etc.

• They have colleagues and friends within the organisation, so it is much easier for them to use social engineering.

• Insiders with malicious intentions are highly motivated to harm their organisation.

Financial gain is one of the main reasons employees commit malicious actions against an employer. Often, it means stealing sensitive information with the intention of selling it to a third party or competitors, or even auctioning it on the dark web, where cybercriminals buy data to attack businesses.

When an employee has been fired, malicious behaviour might occur out of revenge. This can be conducted through their connections with other employees, but the worst-case scenario occurs if they still can log into their work account remotely because the organisation has not removed their ability to access corporate systems.

Employees can also act maliciously when unhappy with their jobs or ‘to get even’ with an employer who did not give them an expected raise or a promotion.

Another distinctive type of malicious action occurs when one or more insiders collaborate with an external actor to compromise an organisation. These incidents frequently involve cybercriminals recruiting one or more insiders to carry out different kinds of attacks. There may also be cases in which third parties, such as competitors or other interested parties, collaborate with staff to obtain the company’s sensitive data.

“Malicious actors can be discovered anywhere, in huge enterprises or small businesses. That is why businesses should build an up-to-date, resilient, transparent IT security system, uniting effective security solutions, smart security protocols and training programs for both IT and non-IT staff to safeguard against this threat. Additionally, it is crucial to implement products and solutions that will protect the organisation’s infrastructure. For example, our Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum contains Advanced Anomaly Control, which helps detect and prevent suspicious and potentially dangerous activities, both by an insider working in a company or an actor outside the organisation,” comments Alexey Vovk, Head of Information Security at Kaspersky.

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