What if an insider threat program could protect your company's data and your employees' lives at the same time?
The SecureWorld team came across an interesting tidbit today from a top U.S. official who says it is not only possible, it is happening.
Wayne Belk, director of the National Insider Threat Task Force under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, told NextGov he has seen the government's insider threat program save lives.
He says the warning signs that indicate an employee is an insider threat to your organization can also be warning signs of a life spinning out of control.
“We have example after example… of programs that have prevented suicides. And not just one in a decade. There are agencies that have picked out numerous people throughout a year and stopped them from either hurting themselves or hurting other people.”
Many companies ignore insider threats
This idea that catching the insider threat is beneficial to employees may come as a surprise to most organizations.
Dr. Larry Ponemon of the Ponemon Institute tells SecureWorld that most companies tend to ignore or downplay the insider threat, almost as a courtesy.
"We found that companies err on the side of goodness. They don't want to accuse somebody without full evidence of a crime, so they write it off as negligence."
The end result, Ponemon says, is that the insider has the chance to do more damage for a longer period of time at their organization.
And if Belk's evidence from the federal government is correct, the end result could also be a missed opportunity to save lives.
[MORE: Dr. Larry Ponemon will keynote the SecureWorld St. Louis cybersecurity conference, which is being held September 18-19, 2018.]
