Insider threats and cyber security top company concerns

A panel discussion titled ‘Inside, outside, upside-down: Staying ahead of the threat’ took place at Earls Court recently, where it facilitated a debate about insider threats and  cyber security, among other issues. Joining the panel was LilyCo director Frank Florentine.

Florentine voiced his thoughts regarding insider threats, explaining how he believes they are high on the agenda of most firms. He gave an example of a technical member of staff at a company he refused to name, who siphoned around £800,000 in revenue over an eight month period.

He said:

“Insider threats, I think, are actually one of the biggest problems. At the end of the day you have to trust somebody – but it’s trust AND verify.”

Another topic given substantial attention at the event was security training awareness. At Gartner’s IAM conference, analysts could be seen encouraging businesses to show some faith in their staff, while research from Trustwave showed that 60% of FTSE firms are referring to information security in the annual reports they produce – another sign of increased awareness.

However, Daniel Schatz from Thomson Reuters, also on the panel, said IT departments need to pay little attention to suggestions from the board with regards to cyber security risks.

Schatz said:

“Don’t get totally stuck by what the executive team is saying in terms of threats.”

When firms engage in IT security recruitment, they need to take on specialists who they know they can trust – which makes it all the more important for prospective applicants to prove that they are trustworthy as well as qualified.