Insider threat to data security

Referring again to the  Verizon 2010 Data Breach Investigations Report, it shows that 48% of data breaches involved some sort of insider in the organization.
Two example of this were reported on the Office of Inadequate Security website recently. Both cases allegedly involve insiders abusing their access privileges to data.

• Twelve indicted in $10 million bank fraud conspiracy operated by a “network” that included bank employees.
• Bank employee accused of selling account numbers.

The lesson here is that all data access must be audited. The audit information must be stored in a secure location in order to allow for report generation and, if necessary, to carry out forensic analysis at a future date. Once an appropriate data access policy is implemented, employees should be advised that it exists. This in itself acts as a deterrent to anyone thinking of wrongfully accessing or modifying data.