{"id":14111,"date":"2023-01-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syteca.com\/blog\/en-blog-insider-risks-from-new-employees\/"},"modified":"2025-05-28T06:20:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T13:20:20","slug":"insider-risks-from-new-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syteca.com\/en\/blog\/insider-risks-from-new-employees","title":{"rendered":"Reducing the Risk of Insider Threats among New Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New hires bring fresh ideas and unique skills but can also pose a threat. They can endanger your organization\u2019s sensitive data and IT systems due to carelessness, lack of cybersecurity awareness, or malicious intent. The potential insider threats stemming from new employees are especially concerning for large organizations with a high flow of personnel who may find it challenging to thoroughly monitor and supervise all new hires security-wise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read our post to figure out why this is the case and learn how to reduce insider threat risks from new employees in your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New employees as a source of insider threats<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Employees are often snowed under in their first days at a new company with tons of information, paperwork, and meetings. Having to concentrate on their new projects and responsibilities, newcomers may lack attention when it comes to cybersecurity requirements. Some new hires do not find cybersecurity a priority or may even want to compromise a company’s cybersecurity intentionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why you should focus on protecting your organization from insider threats as much as from external threats. Internal actors are responsible for 94% of all lost and stolen assets, while the human element impacted 82% of data breaches in 2021 according to Verizon\u2019s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is considered an insider threat?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) defines<\/a> an insider threat<\/em> as \u201cthe potential for an insider to use their authorized access or understanding of an organization to harm that organization.\u201d Harm <\/em>includes \u201cacts that negatively affect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the organization, its data, personnel, or facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each new employee in your company may become a malicious <\/em>or inadvertent <\/em>insider. It\u2019s vital to pay attention to both types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Types<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Learn about more types of insiders from our article What Is an Insider Threat? Definition, Types, and Countermeasures<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why may newcomers be an issue?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New employees may consciously or unconsciously compromise your organization\u2019s security. Top reasons for watching newcomers are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With each new batch of recruited employees and with many of them working remotely, mitigating insider threat risks from new employees must be a top priority for every organization. It\u2019s crucial to detect internal malicious actors and negligent employees before they cause any harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What risks do insiders pose?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your organization ever suffers from malicious or unintentional insider attacks, it may face some of the following negative consequences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Insider<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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To help you avoid these unwanted scenarios, we have prepared a list of practices to consider when hiring new recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 Real-Life Data Breaches Caused by Insider Threats<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to reduce the insider threat risks coming from new employees?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Integrating the following seven steps into your insider risk program<\/a> can help you significantly lower the possibility of your new hires causing cybersecurity incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Best<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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1. Test your new employees<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To cut off potential risks even before an employee starts their journey in your company, make sure that the HR department properly checks candidates\u2019 backgrounds and security skills prior to hiring them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background checks not only help you ensure that a candidate has what it takes to succeed in the job but can also filter out individuals that may act fraudulently or recklessly in your workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the following when screening applicants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alongside running a background check, it\u2019s also important to test your future employee\u2019s general cybersecurity awareness. While you shouldn\u2019t necessarily avoid hiring people with poor security knowledge, by testing people\u2019s knowledge you\u2019ll know what to focus on when instructing new hires on your organization\u2019s cybersecurity practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Make cybersecurity part of your onboarding process<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first days in your organization are the most overwhelming for newcomers. It\u2019s vital to provide new recruits with sufficient time and resources to master your cybersecurity requirements well enough to avoid inadvertent mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider including all cybersecurity rules in your onboarding policy. Make it your HR department\u2019s priority to ensure that new employees:<\/p>\n\n\n\n