Employee Monitoring, Holistic Approach Reduce Insider Threat Risk

When you’re running a business, insider threats are something that you need to be aware of. And it’s important to understand what insider threats really look like. It’s easy to picture a disgruntled employee or a shady corporate spy, but it’s just as likely – in fact, even more likely – that an insider threat will come from a poorly trained or careless employee, not a malicious one. That’s why it’s important to take a holistic, multi-pronged approach to reducing your risk of damage or data breaches from an insider threat. 

Observe Best Practices

You and your employees should understand and observe best practices for reducing risk.

The first line of defense against insider threats should be using best practices for network and data safety. It’s important to have a plan to keep your data safe and follow that plan. For example, you should consider how much access each employee has to your system. Not all employees need access to all of the data you have stored in your network. The more people have access to sensitive data, the more chances there are for a mistake that leads to an unintentional data breach. 

You should also practice good password control and ensure that your employees create strong passwords and change them every so often for increased security. Your employees should also be aware of prohibited activities on work devices, like checking personal email or social media sites, as these insecure activities can weaken the safety of your network.

Use Employee Monitoring Software

When you can monitor your employee’s work, you can also pick up on unusual activity that could be a threat.

Even if you and all your employees always observe best practices, mistakes can still happen. And even if no one ever made a mistake, there would still be the possibility of purposeful sabotage. Employee monitoring software can help protect you from both mistakes and malicious actions. 

With employee monitoring software, you’ll have the ability to easily oversee your employees’ attendance and productivity patterns, but you’ll also be able to see illicit downloads or prohibited usage that could lead to a breach. You can even be alerted to unusual activity so that you can check it out right away.

Incorporate Ongoing Training

A list of best practices and good employee monitoring software is a good start, but your employees also need training to show them how to understand and safely use devices on your network. It’s a good idea to provide ongoing training, not just a one-time experience. 

Over time, employees can become sloppy, forget things, or try to cut corners in an effort to improve efficiency. Plus, employees will come and go, and newer ones will need to be trained in how to use the system themselves. Making employee training a priority and ensuring that employees receive training at regular intervals helps ensure that the people you’re trusting with your company’s network and data are always at their best. 

Employee monitoring software is just one piece of a good holistic approach to reducing the risk of insider threats, but it’s an important piece. To find out how employee monitoring software would work in your office,  Take an online test drive.