Insider Threat Attributes and Mitigation Strategies

Malicious insiders pose a threat to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an organization’s information. Many organizations look for hardware and software solutions that address insider threats but are unsure of what characteristics to look for in a product. This technical note presents seven common attributes of insider threat cases, excluding espionage, drawn from the CERT® Division’s database. The note maps the seven attributes to characteristics insider threat products should possess in order to detect, prevent, or mitigate the threat. None of these attributes alone can identify a malicious insider. Rather, each attribute is one of many data points that an organization should consider when implementing an insider threat program.