The Insider: A True Story Reveals the Warning Signs of Insiders Who Steal Corporate and Governmental Information
Author Dan Verton Sheds Light on What Motivates Employees to Betray Corporate Trust and Discusses Latest Solutions
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 27, 2005—Most security strategies employed by corporations and government agencies today are designed to keep the "bad guys" out, either physically or electronically. The Insider: A True Story, a new book by security expert Dan Verton published by Llumina Press, uncovers an uncomfortable truth; insiders—not outsiders—pose the biggest threat to the security and stability of the nation and the private companies that are its economic engine. Verton examines the personal and economic issues that can drive people to become insider cyber-criminals as well as the technology and security weaknesses that can make it easy to steal information from corporate networks. Hard data collected and analyzed by Reconnex Corporation using its unique iGuard content-monitoring security appliance substantiates the extent of the insider problem. The Insider is available today from on-line retailers such as www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com and at bookstores across the U.S.
"Information is the currency of the new Internet economy. The modern enterprise is valued most for its intangible assets—its intellectual property such as R&D data, customer codes, software specifications, and classified information," said Verton. "Malicious insiders sell these intangible electronic assets for cash, steal them for their own use, or destroy them in revenge for perceived injustices. The cost of these crimes is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars annually."
Drawing on studies by experts, The Insider: A True Story discusses the warning signs that someone may become a malicious insider, such as introversion, poor social skills, and dependency on computer friendships. Malicious insiders may be dissatisfied with the status quo and have a history of problems dealing with authority and family conflict. A breaking point such as divorce, financial problems, or problems at work may lead an insider to steal information. Cyber-crime may also satisfy a need to appear more important or powerful. Finally, malicious insiders are ethically flexible; they believe their situation justifies their actions.
Standard Security Not SufficientThe Insider: A True Story contains many examples of insiders who were easily able to bypass standard security operating policies and procedures to steal information from the organizations they worked for. Nor do standard network security technologies such as firewalls, which are designed to foil hackers, offer protection from malicious insiders or even from inadvertent data leaks. The Reconnex iGuard is the first security appliance to specifically address the threat posed by insiders. By capturing and analyzing documents of all types as they leave the network, iGuard lets organizations find out exactly what information is at risk and who is transmitting it.
"Reconnex has amassed terabytes of blind data substantiating the insider threat; there are over 100 Reconnex iGuards deployed throughout the U.S. monitoring actual live content leaving America’s largest networks 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Donald J. Massaro, president and CEO of Reconnex. "An analysis of this data proves that the insider threat—whether malicious or inadvertent—is very real. The Insider accurately reveals the nature and extent of the problem and shows how organizations can combat it."
About Dan VertonIn addition to The Insider: A True Story, Dan Verton wrote the highly acclaimed book Black Ice: The Invisible Threat of Cyber-Terrorism (McGraw-Hill, 2003), endorsed by some of the nation’s top experts as one of the best descriptions of the terrorist threat to critical cyber infrastructure to date. He has presented his research on cyber-terrorism to the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service, The Air Force War College, and to other organizations as well as to colleges and universities. Verton is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer.
About Reconnex
Reconnex is the leading provider of enterprise risk management (ERM) systems that reveal and address the insider threat to compliance risks, competitive risks, corporate governance risks, and critical infrastructure risks. Reconnex enables Fortune 1000 companies, government organizations, and smaller healthcare and financial services companies to protect their brands, shareholder value, and mission critical operations by revealing hidden risks in the first 48 hours of deployment. Without exception, every deployment has enabled these organizations to quickly remediate the risks that could have damaged or destroyed them.
Give us two days, you’ll know™ . Call Reconnex today at 1-866-940-4590 or visit us on the web at www.reconnex.net.
