70 percent of financial institutions attacked by insiders

These days, it appears that the threats to your data are coming from the inside, as well as from the outside. In a new survey, 70 percent of financial institutions say they have experienced a case of data theft by one of their employees in the last 12 months. If it can happen to them, it could happen to you.

A former Wachovia Bank executive who handled insider fraud incidents says banks are in denial about just how massive the insider threat is within their institutions. "There needs to be more training around this issue," Shirley Inscoe, who spent two decades at Wachovia handling insider fraud investigations, told DarkReading.com.

She co-authored a book about bank insider fraud called "Insidious--How Trusted Employees Steal Millions and Why It's So Hard for Banks to Stop Them," which will be out later this month. "We are seeing a huge increase in this country of organized crime rings threatening individuals who work in financial institutions and making them [commit fraud on their behalf]," she says.

A new survey by Actimize found her predictions accurate. It found that 80 percent of financial institutions worldwide say the insider threat has increased, fueled by the economic downturn. The survey found that only 28 percent of financial institutions had not suffered an insider breach in the past 12 months. With numbers like these, you could be next in line for an insider attack, or maybe you already have been and just don't know it.

Don't throw caution to the wind this time. Put in place safeguards to prevent it from happening, and move quickly when you realize that it has.

For more on insider threats:
- check out this DarkReading.com article

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