• by Ray Schultz , November 27, 2020

Insider attacks are growing in number, and they are becoming more difficult to detect, according to Insider Threat Report, a study by Cybersecurity Insiders, with support from Darktrace. 

For instance, 53% of cybersecurity professionals say the shift to cloud computing has made detection of insider attacks more difficult. 

Moreover, 72% say that insider attacks have increased in frequency over the previous 12 months, and 65% have experienced an attack in that time period. 

The most common accidental incident is the phishing attack, 73% report. But 63% also cite the sending of business information to personal emails. Finally, 55% list spear-phishing. 

The most vulnerable applications are collaboration and communication via email & messaging, 42% say. Then there are cloud storage & file sharing apps (39%) and finance & accounting (37%). 

Among those who find detection more difficult, 17% say it is significantly more difficult and 36% report that it is somewhat harder.  

Another 31% say it has not changed, and 16% say it is easier, with 4% saying it is significantly easier.

Only 22% believe they have visibility into the cloud. 

The biggest insider threats are posed by privileged IT users/admins (60%), contractors (54%) and regular employees (50%).  

Cybersecurity Insiders surveyed 457 cybersecurity professionals earlier this year.