Remote access can increase the risk of insider threats as it allows employees to access sensitive data from outside the traditional organizational network. This introduces a new level of vulnerability and requires organizations to implement strong security measures to mitigate the risk.
What further complicates this scenario is the reduced level of direct oversight that remote workers typically experience. Traditional office environments often provide a controlled setting where security measures and monitoring can be more centralized. However, remote work setups, by nature, distribute the workforce across disparate locations, making it challenging to consistently and comprehensively monitor user activities.
This decentralization can inadvertently create opportunities for malicious insiders to operate with a greater degree of autonomy, as they are less likely to be under direct observation.
Doesn’t all that sound serious, right? Now it’s time to answer the question of how we can address insider threats.
How To Prevent Insider Threats?
To secure resources from external cyber threats, we have a wide range of solutions, including VPNs, firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), intrusion prevention systems (IPS), antivirus and antimalware software, web application firewalls (WAF), and more… But how can we defend ourselves against internal threats? A VPN or a firewall won’t help in this case because the internal intruder can be a person to whom we ourselves have granted access to our resources. How can we prevent this?
To overcome the challenges posed by insider threats, organizations must take a multi-faceted approach to security. Implementing robust security measures helps control and restrict access, ensuring that only authorized individuals can perform specific actions.
User education programs are invaluable in raising awareness among remote workers about cybersecurity best practices and the importance of adhering to security policies. However, proactive monitoring and continuous surveillance are equally essential. Organizations need to invest in tools and technologies that enable real-time tracking of user activities, network traffic, and system behavior.
What can be particularly effective in dealing with insider threats?
A comprehensive solution that encompasses many of the aforementioned security measures is known as Zero Trust, along with the technology that implements its principles: Privileged Access Management (PAM).
To prevent unauthorized actions, PAM systems implement features based on granting access to specifically defined resources only on request and at a specific time users must place a request and, through acceptance, acquire access to the company’s assets “Just In Time.” It gives administrators full control over all remote sessions.
The next PAM feature that is in accordance with the Zero Trust approach is a session management tool. It helps to audit users’ activities and prevent unintentional and unnecessary data access. It allows the administrator to closely monitor all privileged users with an effortless set of tools.
Understanding Zero Trust:
The goal of Zero Trust is to grant access to assets as precisely as possible, so employees have permission to use specific applications, accounts, or equipment only when needed and with stringent control.
Employees or third parties must continuously prove their identity and intent, making it exceedingly difficult for malicious insiders to operate undetected.
According to NIST SP 800-207, “Zero Trust Architecture,” there are the following basic rules for the Zero Trust approach:
- All data sources and computing services are considered resources.
- All communication is secured regardless of network location.
- Access to individual enterprise resources is granted on a per-session basis.
- Access to resources is determined by dynamic policy.
- The enterprise monitors and measures the integrity and security posture of all owned and associated assets.
- All resource authentication and authorization are dynamic and strictly enforced before access is allowed.
- The enterprise collects as much information as possible about the current state of assets, network infrastructure, and communications and uses it to improve its security posture.
Privileged access management (PAM) is the technology used to secure, control, and monitor remote access to an organization’s assets.
Administrators can closely monitor all privileged employees and their moves across the company’s assets. It ensures that individuals with elevated permissions use them only for their intended purposes, minimizing the risk of insider abuse.
PAM systems work as a combination of technologies and best practices to manage remote access across an organization’s IT infrastructure. There are several important features of PAM that we should emphasize:
- Access controls.
- Password management.
- Privileged session management.
- Auditing and reporting.
- Compliance assurance.
Now… If you are looking for a PAM solution that will help you follow Zero Trust principles in your organization, equipped with Session Management features that will help you monitor and record users’ activities also perform a variety of actions on both recorded and live remote access sessions.
📞 Contact us for a free consultation session, We have a product tailored directly to your needs.
