Insider Risk
By the time you know an insider took your data, they have already left
Malicious insider breaches are the costliest data breach type for Australian organisations, averaging AUD $4.91 million per incident. But the majority of insider risk events are not malicious. They are well-meaning employees who do not understand the risk of what they are doing, departing staff who take files they think of as their own work, and contractors who retain project assets after their engagement ends.
Both types need to be visible. Neither tends to be, with tools that only show you what happened after it became an incident.
GuardWare INSIGHT detects the behavioural signals of insider risk in real time. Bulk downloads from a sensitive SharePoint library. Files being forwarded to a personal email account. USB transfers from a device that has never had one before. An employee downloading the entire customer database in their final week. INSIGHT identifies these patterns at the moment they occur and alerts the right people immediately.
The challenge
Most insider incidents are detectable. They are just not being detected in time.
The signals are there. A departing employee accesses files they have never opened before. A contractor starts downloading project documentation three days before their engagement ends. A disgruntled team member emails sensitive documents to a personal address at 11pm. In most organisations, these events are captured in a log that nobody checks until after the incident is reported.
INSIGHT turns those signals into real-time alerts. The difference between a near-miss and a notifiable breach is how quickly someone is alerted.
How GuardWare solves it
GuardWare INSIGHT continuously monitors endpoint activity, M365 access patterns, email behaviour, USB transfers, and cloud storage usage. It establishes baseline behaviour for each user and device, then surfaces deviations in real time.
When an insider risk signal is detected, INSIGHT notifies the employee, their manager, and the security team simultaneously. The employee is notified that their behaviour has been flagged, which alone is a significant deterrent. The security team has the evidence to act immediately, before data has moved beyond reach.
For files that have already left the environment, GuardWare PROTECT allows immediate remote key revocation, rendering exfiltrated files unreadable regardless of where they are.
The Outcome
- Real-time detection of bulk downloads, USB transfers, personal email forwarding, and after-hours access
- Simultaneous alerts to employee, manager, and security team at the moment of the event
- Automated user education that deters accidental and opportunistic insider behaviour
- A complete audit trail for investigation, HR, and regulatory purposes
- Remote file revocation via PROTECT for files that have already left the environment
- Reduction in repeat incidents through accountability and behaviour change
How it works
Monitor
Continuous monitoring of endpoint activity, M365 access, email, USB, cloud storage, and web activity establishes a behavioural baseline for every user and device.
Detect and Alert
Deviations from baseline, bulk downloads, unusual access patterns, personal forwarding, USB activity, flag in real time. Alerts reach the employee, their manager, and the security team simultaneously.
Block (where policy requires)
Where your policy requires it, INSIGHT can block the transfer before it completes, preventing data from leaving the environment.
Educate
Automated contextual user education is triggered immediately, changing behaviour at the point of the event rather than after the fact.
Common Questions
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