Insider risk management is a team effort, requiring cross-functional alignment and collaboration to share best practices and enhance risk modelling. Getting all areas of your organization to work together is the first step.

The number of insider incidents caused by negligence far outweighs those caused by malicious actors. To reduce the risk of negligence, strengthen communications across the organization. For instance, organizations should create dedicated working groups and cross-functional committees that include human resources, IT, ethics and compliance, security, legal, change management, corporate communications, business operations, and finance.

According to our research, only 14% of Canadian organizations have dedicated working groups for insider threats, highlighting an urgent need for action.⁴

When seeking external advisory services, select those with industry experience who can address the full spectrum of insider risk challenges, from cyber threats and internal fraud to organizational culture and change management. Choose advisors with a comprehensive ecosystem of partnerships with technology firms to ensure cutting-edge detection capabilities.

By fostering ongoing communication and accountability across these teams, you can build a resilient framework to proactively identify and mitigate insider risks.

Quickly developing and implementing dedicated insider risk management policies is essential to keeping your organization safe. While the increasing volume of cyber threats has led many organizations to prioritize cybersecurity, physical security remains essential. Ensure comprehensive physical and cybersecurity policies cover all departments and promptly put them into practice.⁵

Your team needs clear guidelines on how to detect, address, and respond to insider threats to strengthen commitment across the organization.

While post-hire monitoring is essential, insufficient application can introduce further risks. To stay on top of monitoring, conduct periodic employee evaluations. Additionally, integrate tools like user and entity behaviour analytics (UEBA), which provide continuous monitoring for key indicators (e.g., privileged access and data usage patterns) to identify heightened risk throughout the employee lifecycle.

UEBA detects anomalies by analyzing user and entity behaviours after establishing a baseline of normal network activity. However, only 10% of organizations indicate optimal use of UEBA.⁶ By integrating tools like UEBA, enhanced background screening, and sentiment analysis to align monitoring capabilities with validated indicators, your organization can detect and prevent insider risks.⁷

Enhanced monitoring to detect insider threats is only one part of the equation. In our survey, only 19% of respondents reported having a robust or target-state process for triage and escalation to manage responses to incidents related to insider threats.⁸

It’s essential to recognize insider threats involve both psychological and behavioural factors. A holistic insider risk management approach should analyze non-digital behaviours, such as in-person interactions and changes in employee habits.

While many organizations have systems for employees to report suspicious coworker behaviour, research on their success is limited. Canadian research indicates training and awareness efforts on what and how to report may improve overall reporting frequency, quality, and engagement.⁹

Although employees generally show a willingness and desire to report concerning coworker behaviour, they face various hurdles. These include structural, institutional, relational, social, and psychological barriers. Employees may also experience uncertainty about whether their reports will remain anonymous as part of internal reporting processes. In addition, there is often a lack of positive corporate incentives for employees to become more involved in identifying potential insider threats.¹⁰

Improving reporting relies on key actions:

1. Consistently applying clear insider risk management policies across the organization
2. Implementing ongoing training to equip employees to recognize and respond to potential threats
3. Developing robust reporting programs and communicating their value
4. Establishing institutional leadership that actively encourages reporting by offering incentives and fostering a security-conscious organizational culture