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Insider Attacks Were the Most Costly Breaches of 2015

Insider Threat

Insiders pose tremendous risk to organizations, according to the most recent Ponemon Report. Malicious insiders were not the most common source of attacks last year, but they were the most costly. According to 2015 data, insider attacks cost companies about $144,000 per incident. Containing and resolving the complexities associated with inside actors cost companies an average of $21,000 per day, and added up fast.

Annual attack cost by frequency ($)

In our experience, the actual number of insider attacks is likely much higher than the data reflects. Because of the immaturity of most insider threat programs, many of these attacks go unnoticed and are never reported.

Data leaks (exfiltration) followed by accidental breaches (careless users) make up two of the most frequently seen instances of insider events. The application of behavior security analytics can dramatically increase early detection and prevention of these types of insider attacks by identifying behavior anomalies that point to early indicators of an attack.