It’s time we talk about insider threats (and solutions)
Most employees don’t have malicious intent when they enter the workplace as a new hire, but sometimes things change.
In any industry and in any workplace, gut instinct just doesn’t cut it anymore—strong job candidates who pass the pre-hire background check and wow leadership with their interview skills can easily devolve into individuals who put the company at risk.
Validating the fact that this is now a common workforce occurrence, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) and the National Insider Threat Task Force (NITTF) spent all of September raising awareness for insider threat. Specifically, they and other experts discussed how, in many cases, employees don’t have malicious intent when they enter the workplace as a new hire. Instead, it’s pressure from both at-work and at-home factors that eventually lead them to inflict harm on the organization, its workers, or even the customers it serves.
Related: Uber, other companies introduce rolling background checks
What required greater attention in the conversations that were happening—and continue to happen—about insider threat was an actionable solution.
Today, the status quo approach to preventing insider threat is to conduct a pre-hire background check, but it’s evident that more needs to be done. Too much can happen after a potential employee is initially screened, and even if an employer does periodic check-ins, long stretches of time filled with potentially problematic behavior can take place between them. Periodically evaluating a single moment in time doesn’t work.
So, in thinking about the future of insider threat prevention, it’s clear that there’s a need for ongoing evaluation. Leaders need to become aware of criminal offenses in real time, and they need to be able to see and keep an eye on high-risk or inappropriate employee behavior as it’s happening.
An easy way to do this is to empower employees to self- and peer-report. Self-reporting allows an employee who is arrested for criminal activity to alert leadership to the issue early, which enables them to share their perspective before their employer jumps to conclusions. Peer-reporting allows coworkers who notice an employee acting strangely to, often with anonymity and in a timely manner, let leadership know of the risky workplace behavior they witness.
This is important for multiple reasons. One, it helps leadership improve its visibility into day-to-day operations and become aware of employees how may need timely help or assistance. Two, it encourages people to speak up as it reduces the odds of the accused finding out about the report and retaliating–critical in instances where an employee is dealing with sexual abuse or harassment. And three, some workforce assurance solutions offer an automated review process that ensures a standardized workflow for HR, legal, security and compliance to verify and investigate, which helps keep track of personnel complaints and prevents potentially serious issues from falling through the cracks.
Another way for employers to be even more in the know about what’s happening in their organization is to invest in a continuous evaluation capability that maintain compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requirements. In this way, leaders can see what life events could be contributing to the concerning behaviors an employee is exhibiting. If someone just bought a vehicle, got into an accident and didn’t have sufficient insurance coverage, for example, that could be one of the reasons they’re particularly irritable at work. Similarly, if an employee or someone they love is experiencing serious health issues, that might be why they’re acting unusually withdrawn.
If leaders can see behavioral changes early, they can act. Typically, that starts with HR speaking with the individual about what’s going on, which then often leads to HR providing assistance. Some solutions could include pointing them to an employee-assistance or wellness program, offering flexible hours, or making other office accommodations.
Now, with a foundational understanding of what insider threat is—largely thanks to the NCSC and NITTF’s efforts—and how it can possibly be prevented, leaders must ask themselves, “What am I waiting for?”
Tom Miller is CEO of ClearForce, an organization that protects businesses and employees through the continuous and automated discovery of employee misconduct or high-risk activities.
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