For German companies, the damage caused by cybercrime now totals more than 40 billion euros per year. And while it is often assumed that cyberattacks are carried out by external hackers or by state sponsored agents, the reality is quite different. For example, the German Federal Bureau for Information Security (BSI) sees so-called insiders as a greater danger. Employees who unintentionally make mistakes, for example by opening an infected email and thus become involuntary helpers of cyber criminals, play a role in this as well.

The danger of ex-employees

Dissatisfied ex-employees can also pose a risk. They know your company’s IT system inside out, and may be aware of its possible vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities can be used for self-enrichment or to directly harm the company. By stealing valuable data, for example, leaking sensitive information or sabotaging your IT systems. A representative study by the digital association Bitkom shows that approximately one third of the companies affected by cyberattacks (33%) have suffered deliberate damage by a former employee. In just one fifth of the cases does the trail lead to organized crime (21%) or to competing companies (20%). In 12% of the cases, the attacks originate from foreign intelligence services.

Adaptive Defense at work

What could such an attack scenario possibly look like? Which IT security strategy do you use to protect your company?

In our info sheet “Adaptive Defense at work…” we use a real-life example to show how easily an ex-employee can carry out a ransomware attack on his company. We show you how our AD 360 solution prevents an attack from being successful and how it can be used to find out the identity of the perpetrator.

Are you an IT service provider? Then we would like to invite you to one of our Technology Days in your area. Here you will get a comprehensive overview of Panda Security’s technologies, features and Unique Selling Points.