6 in 10 insider breaches caused by employee negligence

To avoid insider breaches, it’s vital to make sure your people are being careful with how they relay information internally.

The reason: Employee negligence or errors caused 62% of all insider data breaches last year, according to a recent report from Ponemon Institute, a research center specializing in privacy and data protection.

Equally as alarming for CFOs: The average global cost of insider threats (and their fallout)​ increased ​31% in just two years​ to a whopping $11.45 million​.

New normal, new threats

The high percentage of data breaches caused by employee negligence could be due in large part to more remote work.

The pandemic forced many in-person operations to go virtual. And at home versus in the office, it’s possible employees feel more lax and less on guard for insider breaches.

Plus, with companies relying more on chat and video functionality to talk shop, there comes more risk of private info being exposed.

Devin Redmond, an expert on modern collaboration security, explains how traditional security measures for data breaches tend to focus on channels like email. But other collaboration channels – those with video, voice and images – are being utilized now more than ever. (Think: Zoom, Slack, etc.) And some companies haven’t updated their security measures to account for the risks of these other collaboration tools.

Essentially, staffers may assume their chats or video calls are private. So, they talk freely about payments, bank account details, etc. But if those virtual spaces aren’t totally secure, your company could face major issues.

So, how can CFOs keep data breaches at bay and company money safe?

First, verify IT has addressed the security of any collaboration tools or programs your company’s added recently (or is leaning on more heavily now).

Second, remind staffers to act as if anything that’s shared during virtual meetings – verbally, on-screen, via files, etc. – may not be 100% secure. Then talk about what channels are safest for discussing and sharing sensitive info remotely. By playing it safe, your company can reduce its risk of insider breaches.