What is an insider threat and common mitigations?

• A. A risk from external hackers exploiting exposed systems.
• B. A policy that restricts use of company assets.
• C. A physical threat from outsiders.
• D. Risk from trusted individuals misusing access; mitigations include background checks, access restrictions, monitoring, and security culture.

Answer: (D)

An insider threat is the risk that comes from trusted people within an organization who have legitimate access and may misuse that access, either intentionally or through negligence. Because insiders already pass authentication, they can bypass many external defenses, making their potential impact more subtle and dangerous. Mitigations focus on preventing misuse and detecting it early: background checks help assess trust before someone joins, access restrictions (least privilege) limit what each person can do, monitoring keeps an eye on unusual or inappropriate activity, and a security-aware culture encourages proper behavior and quick reporting of concerns. Together, these measures reduce the chance of insider misuse and improve the chances of catching issues early. External threats, or policies that aren’t specifically about internal access, describe different concerns and don’t address the insider risk in the same way.