Insider Threat: Lessons from the Gatwick Drone Incident

On Sunday, the BBC reported that the Chief Operating Officer of Gatwick airport believed the recent Gatwick drone incident was the work of an insider, able to observe what was happening on the runway, or someone listening in via internet or radio communications. The fact that this has happened at such a high profile location should be a warning to us all. There may be people within your business that are working against you. The Insider threat is often overlooked by management as naturally, we like to trust our employees to carry out their duties and contribute towards business goals. Whilst most employees do not have a malicious intent, it is often difficult to identify those that do. Even those that do not have a malicious intent can be a cyber-security vulnerability due to carelessness or simply, lack of training and resources. Research conducted by unified email management company Mimecast showed that email breaches alone caused by insiders, careless employees and compromised accounts increased by 24% from 2017 to 2018.

So how can you protect your business from people on the inside?

Well, that is a question with no single, simple answer. In order to properly protect your business, it is necessary to have a holistic approach to cyber security that combines people, processes and technology. The implementation of policies, regular cyber security training and restricting access across your systems are a good place to start. There are also a number of technical solutions that can help reduce the risk of the insider threat. To find out more about some of the solutions that Eventura can assist with, simply get in touch. As a member of the North West Cyber Security Cluster, the Cyber Exchange and having been accredited as a Cyber Essentials compliant organisation we have had plenty experience helping other businesses manage cyber security risks.