A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial Services

The insider threat within organisational cybersecurity continues to be of great concern globally. The current insider threat detection strategies are acknowledged as ineffective, evidenced by the increased reported events in high-profile insider threats and cyber data loss cases borne from insider a...

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Main Authors: Findlay Whitelaw, Jackie Riley, Nebrase Elmrabit
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2024-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10458945/
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author Findlay Whitelaw
Jackie Riley
Nebrase Elmrabit
author_facet Findlay Whitelaw
Jackie Riley
Nebrase Elmrabit
author_sort Findlay Whitelaw
collection DOAJ
description The insider threat within organisational cybersecurity continues to be of great concern globally. The current insider threat detection strategies are acknowledged as ineffective, evidenced by the increased reported events in high-profile insider threats and cyber data loss cases borne from insider and privilege misuse. The impact of insider incidents on Financial Service (FS) organisations is vast, operationally disruptive, and costly from a regulatory, financial, and reputational perspective. Many United Kingdom (UK) FS organisations have invested in insider risk programmes, but there is no sign of the insider threat diminishing. This paper will address the following research questions: 1) What factors influence employees to become malicious insider threats and apply this to employees working within the UK? 2) What preventative measures could be effectively operationalised within UK FS organisations to prevent malicious insider attacks? A literature review was conducted, reviewing 54 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Additional and relevant articles were incorporated to enrich the review, further substantiating the academic currency and context of the study. The review reveals five primary emerging insider threat themes, subsequently discussed and including behavioural indicators, information security behaviours, technical controls, insider threat strategies, and regulation. Throughout the literature review, one primary challenge highlighted the lack of articles published concerning the FS industry; however, the studies reviewed were relevant, appropriate, and applied across this review. Furthermore, the review also considers outcomes from a practitioner’s perspective, offering insights into the limitations of insider threat approaches and strategies and offering potential recommendations.
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spelling doaj.art-00c9cd31fab6436bbb38ac9e356061042024-12-18T00:00:52ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362024-01-0112347523476810.1109/ACCESS.2024.337326510458945A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial ServicesFindlay Whitelaw0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0557-0398Jackie Riley1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7610-8702Nebrase Elmrabit2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4267-8798Glasgow School for Business and Society, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, U.K.Department of Cyber Security and Networks, School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, Glasgow, U.K.Department of Cyber Security and Networks, School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, Glasgow, U.K.The insider threat within organisational cybersecurity continues to be of great concern globally. The current insider threat detection strategies are acknowledged as ineffective, evidenced by the increased reported events in high-profile insider threats and cyber data loss cases borne from insider and privilege misuse. The impact of insider incidents on Financial Service (FS) organisations is vast, operationally disruptive, and costly from a regulatory, financial, and reputational perspective. Many United Kingdom (UK) FS organisations have invested in insider risk programmes, but there is no sign of the insider threat diminishing. This paper will address the following research questions: 1) What factors influence employees to become malicious insider threats and apply this to employees working within the UK? 2) What preventative measures could be effectively operationalised within UK FS organisations to prevent malicious insider attacks? A literature review was conducted, reviewing 54 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Additional and relevant articles were incorporated to enrich the review, further substantiating the academic currency and context of the study. The review reveals five primary emerging insider threat themes, subsequently discussed and including behavioural indicators, information security behaviours, technical controls, insider threat strategies, and regulation. Throughout the literature review, one primary challenge highlighted the lack of articles published concerning the FS industry; however, the studies reviewed were relevant, appropriate, and applied across this review. Furthermore, the review also considers outcomes from a practitioner’s perspective, offering insights into the limitations of insider threat approaches and strategies and offering potential recommendations.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10458945/Financial servicesinsider threatinsider threat strategies
spellingShingle Findlay Whitelaw
Jackie Riley
Nebrase Elmrabit
A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial Services
IEEE Access
Financial services
insider threat
insider threat strategies
title A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial Services
title_full A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial Services
title_fullStr A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial Services
title_full_unstemmed A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial Services
title_short A Review of the Insider Threat, a Practitioner Perspective Within the U.K. Financial Services
title_sort review of the insider threat a practitioner perspective within the u k financial services
topic Financial services
insider threat
insider threat strategies
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10458945/
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