Insider Threats in the Remote Work Era: Gartner’s Guide to Effective Risk Management
Insider threats have become a major concern for security leaders in today’s remote work era. The combination of increased data growth, cloud adoption, and the shift to remote and hybrid work environments has made it easier than ever for insiders to lose or steal data. Traditional systems lack the visibility necessary to detect and prevent insider threats, leading businesses to seek tools that can help them effectively manage these risks.
To address this growing concern, Gartner has released its Market Guide for Insider Risk Management Solutions. The guide aims to help security and risk leaders understand what to look for in an insider risk management (IRM) solution and provides guidance on implementing a formal IRM program. Let’s delve into some key highlights from the report.
According to Gartner, IRM is a methodology that uses technical solutions to address a fundamentally human problem. It defines IRM as a methodology that includes tools and capabilities to measure, detect, and contain undesirable behavior in trusted accounts within an organization.
Gartner identifies three distinct types of users when it comes to insider threats: careless, malicious, and compromised. This aligns with the findings of Proofpoint, a leading player in the market for IRM solutions. The 2022 Cost of Insider Threats Global Report from Ponemon Institute also supports this view, indicating that most insider risks stem from errors and carelessness, followed by malicious and compromised users.
In its Market Guide, Gartner highlights the essential capabilities of enterprise IRM platforms. Among these capabilities, Proofpoint has emerged as a Representative Vendor for three consecutive years due to its early leadership in the IRM market. With its platform, Proofpoint offers greater visibility into the actions of both everyday users and high-risk individuals, providing context to determine whether behavior poses a risk or not. By offering actionable insights based on user activity, Proofpoint helps security teams detect and prevent insider threats effectively, thus minimizing potential damage to the business.
Gartner also emphasizes the convergence of data loss prevention (DLP) and insider risk strategies into a unified solution. Legacy approaches that solely rely on tracking data activity are no longer sufficient in today’s complex work environment. Employees and third parties have more access to data than ever before, while external threat actors continue to refine their attack methods. To enhance the effectiveness of insider threat detection and prevention, security teams need insights into user behavior that go beyond simply tracking data activity. This is where solutions like Proofpoint Insider Threat Management (ITM) come into play. By providing robust visibility into user behavior and contextual information, Proofpoint ITM empowers security analysts to respond effectively and mitigate potential brand and financial damage.
Gartner also points out that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to play a central role in insider risk management, although its adoption in solutions has been limited thus far. AI can help security analysts work more efficiently by distinguishing false positives from true positive alerts, thereby enhancing data and system protection. Proofpoint utilizes AI in its Sigma information protection platform, leveraging AI-generated classifiers to prioritize data protection based on business category and confidentiality level. This integration of AI and machine learning adds context to investigations and augments DLP capabilities.
To develop a formal insider risk program, Gartner recommends that security leaders collaborate with cross-functional partners from legal, HR, and privacy departments. By clearly articulating the program’s goals and communicating with employees, companies can avoid confusion between employee productivity monitoring and insider threat monitoring. Proofpoint ITM supports this collaborative approach by collecting data on high-risk users while maintaining their privacy. It also meets the most rigorous privacy requirements by anonymizing user data, masking content snippets, and managing regional data residency to eliminate bias.
In conclusion, Gartner’s Market Guide for Insider Risk Management Solutions provides valuable insights into addressing insider threats in the remote work era. It emphasizes the need for comprehensive IRM platforms that offer visibility, context, and collaboration to effectively detect and prevent insider threats. With the convergence of DLP and insider risk strategies and the potential of AI, businesses can enhance their defenses against insider threats and safeguard their data and systems.
To learn more about insider risk management solutions, you can download the Market Guide for Insider Risk Management Solutions from Gartner. Additionally, you can explore Proofpoint Insider Threat Management to see how it aligns with Gartner’s recommendations and findings, helping businesses tackle insider threats with confidence.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is based on Gartner’s Market Guide for Insider Risk Management Solutions by Brent Predovich, published on November 13, 2023. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service discussed in its research publications and advises technology users to evaluate solutions based on their own requirements.
