# What is an Insider Threat?

> An insider threat is the potential for a person with authorized access or special knowledge of an organization to cause harm.

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## Content

The person may be a current or former employee, contractor, partner, or another trusted participant. Harm can be deliberate, negligent, or unintentional and may affect information, systems, finances, facilities, safety, people, or reputation.

Insider-threat management should protect the organization without treating every worker as an adversary. Effective programs combine clear policy, proportionate access, workforce support, secure reporting, technical monitoring, privacy and employment safeguards, and multidisciplinary assessment of concerning situations.

### Key points

- **Malicious activity:** Theft, fraud, sabotage, espionage, unauthorized disclosure, or deliberate policy evasion.
- **Unintentional activity:** Mistakes, unsafe workarounds, misdirected information, weak credential handling, or actions taken without understanding the risk.
- **Risk reduction:** Least privilege, separation of duties, access reviews, monitored privileged activity, secure offboarding, training, and supportive reporting channels.
- **Important limitation:** A technical anomaly does not establish intent or wrongdoing. Assessment must be lawful, proportionate, evidence-based, protected from bias, and coordinated with the appropriate privacy, legal, human-resources, and security functions.

### Related terms

[Privileged access management (PAM)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/privileged-access-management/>) · [Data loss prevention (DLP)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/data-loss-prevention/>) · [Data exfiltration](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/data-exfiltration/>) · [Least privilege](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/least-privilege/>) · [User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/user-and-entity-behavior-analytics/>) · [Insider risk management](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/insider-risk-management/>)

### Sources

[CISA: Insider Threat Mitigation Guide](https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/Insider%20Threat%20Mitigation%20Guide_Final_508.pdf) · [NIST glossary: Insider Threat](https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/insider_threat)

## Attribution and scope

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