The National Insider Threat Awareness Month (NITAM) is being observed this September 2020 for the second time. The whole month, resources are being made accessible to point out the value of discovering, blocking, and reporting insider threats.
NITAM is a joint work between a number of U.S. government bureaus which include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Intelligence and Security (USD(I&S)), National Insider Threat Task Force (NITTF), National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). Last year, NITAM was created to increase understanding of the risks presented by insiders and to persuade agencies to do something and take care of those risks.
Security teams usually focus on safeguarding their networks, files, and resources from outside threat actors and attackers, however, it is additionally necessary to defend against insider threats. An insider is a person inside a company who has been given access to the device, software programs, data, or facts about an institution. Insiders can include past and present personnel, contractors, trainees, and other persons who were provided access to information or network. Those trusted insiders can unintentionally or intentionally do something which is troublesome to the company. Those actions may result in the ruin to organization facilities, systems, or devices, result in financial problems, or expose intellectual property and sensitive information.
To fight insider threats, businesses must create an insider threat mitigation plan to identify, prevent, and respond to threats coming from malicious and accidental insiders. The program ought to safeguard vital assets against suspicious access and malicious works, and the employees must be HIPAA trained to recognize insider threats and submit reports on any doubtful behavior or activities. The program needs to also include the collection and evaluation of data to help recognize and offset insider threats immediately.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has produced a unique set of obstacles. The modifications made by companies due to the pandemic, for instance, the extension of remote working to involve all the workforce, have elevated the threat of espionage, illegal disclosures, fraudulence, and data theft. It is more crucial than ever for companies to have an efficient insider threat mitigation plan.
The primary emphasis of NITAM 2020 is enhancing resilience against insider threats. This may be accomplished by enhancing awareness by means of instruction of the personnel, utilizing the resources provided in September to know how to recognize and abate the activities of insider threats, and to strengthen security against those dangers.
The DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is assisting to increase knowledge about insider threats and has shared resources that healthcare companies could use to enhance organizational toughness and offset risks brought about by insider threats. There are games, graphics, posters, videos, and case studies to promote NITAM on this link.