The Easiest Intelligence I Ever Collected Came From Inside Your Organisation
As a police informant handler, I didn’t need a warrant to break in, hack a server, or plant a bug. All I needed was someone on the inside, someone already in the meetings, already on the systems, already trusted.
In the right hands, that information kept people safe. In the wrong hands, it could cripple an entire business, department, economy or country. That’s why insider threats aren’t just a cyber problem, they’re a leadership problem.
When most people think about threats to their organisation, they picture external hackers, cybercriminals, or hostile competitors.
The reality is far more confronting, the number one threat to most organisations comes from within.
We operate in a world more volatile and unpredictable than ever. People bring with them agendas, personal problems, hidden motivations, and access to information, not all of it accurate. While these human factors can be an asset in a healthy culture, they also represent a potential risk. That risk is the insider threat.
This isn’t about paranoia or scare tactics. It’s about acknowledging reality and preparing for it. Strong leadership accepts the possibility and takes proactive steps to protect the business, its people, and its intellectual property.
My Perspective: Why I Know This Threat Is Real
During my career as a Detective in the Police, I was trained and tasked as an informant handler. In that role, one of my most valuable and reliable sources of intelligence came from people inside organisations.
These insiders weren’t always members of criminal organisations, they were often ordinary employees with access, insight, and information. Sometimes they came forward voluntarily, sometimes they were cultivated, and sometimes they were motivated by reasons even they didn’t fully understand.
That experience taught me two things:
Insiders often have the perfect position to access information that outsiders could never reach.
If someone like me, operating within the law and for the right reasons, can leverage an insider to gather intelligence, then someone with malicious intent can do the same for far more dangerous ends.
It’s this operational knowledge that makes me unapologetically clear: insider threats are real, they are effective, and if you don’t have measures in place to detect and deter them, your organisation is exposed.
What Exactly Is an Insider Threat?
An insider threat is any person within your organisation, employee, contractor, supplier, or even trusted partner, who uses their authorised access in a way that compromises security.
In government, that might mean leaking classified information. In the corporate world, it could be giving away intellectual property, proprietary systems, trade secrets, or operational details that give competitors an edge.
Not all insider threats are malicious. In fact, many occur unintentionally. Broadly, there are three categories:
1. Malicious Insider: An individual who deliberately exploits their access for personal gain, revenge, or ideological reasons. Example - A disgruntled employee stealing client databases to sell to a competitor.
2. Negligent Insider: Someone who creates vulnerabilities through carelessness, ignorance, or poor adherence to security protocols. Example - Clicking on a phishing link or failing to secure sensitive documents.
3. Exploited Insider: A person manipulated, coerced, or deceived into breaking security. Example - An employee tricked into providing login credentials via social engineering.
Regardless of intent, the result can be equally damaging, loss of competitive advantage, reputational harm, legal consequences, and in some cases, operational collapse.
Why Detection Is Difficult
Unlike an external cyber-attack that may trigger alarms, insider threats can operate undetected for months, even years. The same trust and access that make someone valuable to your organisation also make them capable of causing harm.
Early detection relies on three things:
Awareness – Leadership and staff must understand the behaviours, warning signs, and vulnerabilities that can indicate an insider threat.
Robust Policies – Clear, enforced policies covering information handling, access control, and reporting mechanisms.
Training and Coaching – Ongoing education so staff know what to look for, how to respond, and how to protect themselves and the organisation.
Mitigation: Reducing Risk Before It’s Too Late
Preventing insider threats isn’t about creating a culture of suspicion. It’s about building resilience. This means:
Conducting thorough background checks during hiring and periodically reviewing high-access roles.
Implementing the principle of least privilege, giving people access only to the information they need to do their job.
Regular security audits to identify and close vulnerabilities.
Creating clear channels for reporting concerns without fear of reprisal.
When done correctly, these measures don’t weaken trust, they strengthen it. A secure organisation protects everyone in it.
The Leadership Responsibility
Every leader should accept this truth: insider threats can happen to any organisation, at any time, regardless of size or sector. Hoping “it won’t happen here” is not a strategy.
Instead, invest in awareness training, build layered security measures, and make insider threat mitigation part of your operational culture. The cost of prevention is negligible compared to the cost of a breach.
In high-stakes environments, whether it’s a critical infrastructure facility, a professional sports team, or a competitive corporate market, your ability to protect your information and assets from the inside is as important as defending them from external attack.
Because in the end, the most dangerous person to your organisation may not be outside the gate, they may already have the keys.
Contact DeMN Consulting to learn how to deal with the insider threat:
info@demn.com.au
