Nearly half of federal IT agencies (45 percent) have been the target of an insider threat within the past 12 months, according to MeriTalk's Inside Job: The Federal Insider Threat Report.
The report surveyed 150 federal IT managers familiar with their organization's cybersecurity efforts. The majority of respondents (76 percent) reported a greater focus on insider threats today than a year ago. Within the past 12 months, 29 percent of federal IT agencies lost data due to an insider incident.
More than half of respondents (51 percent) report it is common for employees to not follow appropriate protocols, while 40 percent say unauthorized employee access of government information occurs at least once weekly.
Efforts to combat insider threats include:
• Offering annual online training: 73 percent
• Running mock attacks: 51 percent
• Offering in-person security training: 39 percent
• Updating security protocol manuals for employee review: 29 percent