• 08 July, 2025
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Your Greatest Security Threat Is Sitting In Your Next Team Meeting

Your greatest security threat is not in a hoodie in a dark room. It is the thing sitting in your next team meeting. I’ve said this before, and I mean it. After nearly 30 years in the cybersecurity business — from my early days as a network administrator in 1993 overseeing PSTN multiplexers to seeing the carnage wreaked by the Slammer worm — I can tell you, human-based insider threats are the most difficult to crack. Not because they are always malevolent, but because they are human. This blog is for HR leaders and security professionals who are interested in learning why great people do bad things, and what we can do to make sure that bad decision doesn’t become a bad data leak.

The Psychology Behind Insider Threats: A Human Perspective

Let’s get real. People are messy. Not just in cyber—life too. The psychology of insider threats is symptomatic of all human behavior, stress, incentives and often just good old fashioned stupidity. I’ve witnessed employees who, brainwashed by decades of overwork and exhaustion, somehow manage to forget their cybersecurity training at the most important time. And isn’t it amazing how even the best-intentioned people slip up, because — they are human.

Psychological research backs this up. There’s good reason for that. Research has found that insider threat behavior is typically the result of a complex interplay of:

• Judgement can be affected by stress or burnout.
• Unfamiliarity with or poor understanding of security measures.
• Dissatisfaction with workplace or being unappreciated.
• Workers feel the pressure to get the job done quickly, bypassing security steps.

Here is one of those cases, an anonymous example from a bank I recently assisted. A mid-level analyst sent sensitive customer information outside the company by email — a leak, in other words, though not one done intentionally, but because a colleague had asked for it promptly and a deadline loomed. It was a decision taken hastily, without malice, but with consequences of devastating proportions.

Cue facepalm.

Unintended Vs Intended Leaks: A Thin Line to Cross

I’m going to make a slightly controversial statement here: unintentional leaks are far more dangerous than the ones done on purpose. At least with malicious insiders, you can profile, track, and model them to look for the blacksheep. When it’s accidental, it becomes fuzzier.

I’ve collaborated with three banks very recently on their zero-trust architecture uplift. Guess what surprised me? The unintentional leaks were made invariably by the most highly cleared personnel. Why? Familiarity breeds complacency. Overconfidence results in skirting security protocols.

It is comparable to driving your family car daily. After all, you know all the bumps and cracks in the road, so you don’t even bother for some signs and signals. One day, when you’re in the zone, you’re unfocused, and bam — you have an accident. Same concept.

Malicious leaks tend to have certain tells:

• Unusual data access patterns
• Sudden changes in behavior
• Efforts to evade security measures

Unintentional leaks? They look like:

• Accidental file sharing
• Misconfigured cloud permissions
• Ignorance of phishing attempts

DLP Methods with Behavior Integration: Not Just Tech

Technology alone won’t save you. Let me repeat that — technology alone does not save you. You must have DLP behavioral strategies coupled with human behavior, in mind.

One thing I am doubtful about is any solution bearing the signature AI-powered without transparency. AI is cool but not magic. Behavioral DLP involves watching not only where files go, but why they go there.

Here’s a model I’ve seen work in practice:

• Baseline Normal Behavior: Know how employees typically interact with data. If anyone falls outside of that, the alarm bells should ring — figuratively speaking, of course, and with realistic thresholds in order to keep everything from ringing constantly.
• Context Sensitive: Neutral does not mean that there is nothing wrong. If a sales rep accesses client files while preparing for a pitch, they’re just doing their job. But what happens when the same rep downloads masses of data at midnight? Something’s up.
• Human-in-the-Loop: Telling security teams is good. It’s better to train HR and managers to identify high-risk behaviors. For example, frequent lapses of memory around security protocols when added to a higher stress level could signal susceptibility.
• Feedback Loops: Post-incident forensics and reviews to identify why an employee made an error. This isn’t a time for finger-pointing — it’s a time for learning and for changing the way officers are trained.

I always tell people to think of your security tools as your car’s dashboard (not your steering wheel). They tell you but don’t make the change.

Culture-building Strategies: The Actual PPEs Against Insider Threats

All the tech in the world won’t plug the cracks if your organizational culture is blind to the human factor.

When I first started dealing with network ops, it was a rigid, almost military sort of place. But that mentality sowed fear — not watchfulness. Workers concealed errors and avoided reporting problems out of fear of retribution. Guess what that did? It increased risk.

These days, I have clients who are advocating for psychological safety. It’s not about setting up a system where employees feel like they have to admit to mistakes or report potential bad actors and then fear retaliation. For if you can’t identify your own team’s red flags, how can you help them?

Here is what worked to turn one financial institution I worked with around:

• On-going interactive training sessions (no more slide decks).
• Anonymous avenues for employees to raise problems.
• Publicly celebrating security wins to promote better behavior.
• Baking security objectives into everyone’s performance metrics — because it’s not just the IT team’s responsibility.

And, Insider Threat Management is a marathon — not a sprint.

Quick Take: What Tomorrow’s HR and Security Teams Can Do

• Look beyond IT. Interact with HR and psychology teams.
• Application Behavior Analysis, not static rules.
• Practice with life-like examples, keep it practical not theoretical.
• Promote transparency, eliminate the fear of reporting failures.
• Continuously monitor and refresh your insider threat program.

Identifying At-Risk Employee Behaviors (Printable Checklist)

• Unexplained changes in work behavior or productivity.
• Frequent absenteeism or signs of stress.
• Aggressive in its mission to constantly access rogue files.
• Resistant or negative to security measures.
• Regular security mishaps or policy violations.
• Word of suspicious conduct from colleagues.

You’re allowed to print it out, pin it to the wall in your office, stick it into your next training manual.

Closing Out — From My Desk After Three Coffees

Here’s the thing. Cybersecurity isn’t just about firewalls, VPNs, and fancy zero-trust architectures (although yes, three of you did drop everything and upgrade your banks’s zero-trust, lovely). At P J Networks, we provide a range of IT services as diverse as managed NOCs, routers, and servers, but the human factor is the X factor.

Insider threats remind me that security is not only a tech issue but also a people problem. You need to meet people where they are — and not just expect them to be cyborgs who never make mistakes. Logs and alerts are important, but so is training, culture and empathy.

And if you believe password policies are the answer — hold on. I remain aggrieved by how many companies dictate impossible complexity rules that only force employees into scribbling passwords on sticky notes under keyboards. There’s got to be a balance.

So, reframe your insider threat strategy less around catching bad guys and more around looking after your people. You might just save your company (and your sanity) in the process.

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