Managing the Insider Threat


Book Description

An adversary who attacks an organization from within can prove fatal to the organization and is generally impervious to conventional defenses. Drawn from the findings of an award-winning thesis, Managing the Insider Threat: No Dark Corners is the first comprehensive resource to use social science research to explain why traditional methods fail aga




Insider Threats


Book Description

"This compendium of research on insider threats is essential reading for all personnel with accountabilities for security; it shows graphically the extent and persistence of the threat that all organizations face and against which they must take preventive measures." — Roger Howsley, Executive Director, World Institute for Nuclear Security High-security organizations around the world face devastating threats from insiders—trusted employees with access to sensitive information, facilities, and materials. From Edward Snowden to the Fort Hood shooter to the theft of nuclear materials, the threat from insiders is on the front page and at the top of the policy agenda. Insider Threats offers detailed case studies of insider disasters across a range of different types of institutions, from biological research laboratories, to nuclear power plants, to the U.S. Army. Matthew Bunn and Scott D. Sagan outline cognitive and organizational biases that lead organizations to downplay the insider threat, and they synthesize "worst practices" from these past mistakes, offering lessons that will be valuable for any organization with high security and a lot to lose. Insider threats pose dangers to anyone who handles information that is secret or proprietary, material that is highly valuable or hazardous, people who must be protected, or facilities that might be sabotaged. This is the first book to offer in-depth case studies across a range of industries and contexts, allowing entities such as nuclear facilities and casinos to learn from each other. It also offers an unprecedented analysis of terrorist thinking about using insiders to get fissile material or sabotage nuclear facilities. Contributors: Matthew Bunn, Harvard University; Andreas Hoelstad Dæhli, Oslo; Kathryn M. Glynn, IBM Global Business Services; Thomas Hegghammer, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, Oslo; Austin Long, Columbia University; Scott D. Sagan, Stanford University; Ronald Schouten, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Jessica Stern, Harvard University; Amy B. Zegart, Stanford University




The Insider Threat to Homeland Security


Book Description




The CERT Guide to Insider Threats


Book Description

Since 2001, the CERT® Insider Threat Center at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has collected and analyzed information about more than seven hundred insider cyber crimes, ranging from national security espionage to theft of trade secrets. The CERT® Guide to Insider Threats describes CERT’s findings in practical terms, offering specific guidance and countermeasures that can be immediately applied by executives, managers, security officers, and operational staff within any private, government, or military organization. The authors systematically address attacks by all types of malicious insiders, including current and former employees, contractors, business partners, outsourcers, and even cloud-computing vendors. They cover all major types of insider cyber crime: IT sabotage, intellectual property theft, and fraud. For each, they present a crime profile describing how the crime tends to evolve over time, as well as motivations, attack methods, organizational issues, and precursor warnings that could have helped the organization prevent the incident or detect it earlier. Beyond identifying crucial patterns of suspicious behavior, the authors present concrete defensive measures for protecting both systems and data. This book also conveys the big picture of the insider threat problem over time: the complex interactions and unintended consequences of existing policies, practices, technology, insider mindsets, and organizational culture. Most important, it offers actionable recommendations for the entire organization, from executive management and board members to IT, data owners, HR, and legal departments. With this book, you will find out how to Identify hidden signs of insider IT sabotage, theft of sensitive information, and fraud Recognize insider threats throughout the software development life cycle Use advanced threat controls to resist attacks by both technical and nontechnical insiders Increase the effectiveness of existing technical security tools by enhancing rules, configurations, and associated business processes Prepare for unusual insider attacks, including attacks linked to organized crime or the Internet underground By implementing this book’s security practices, you will be incorporating protection mechanisms designed to resist the vast majority of malicious insider attacks.




Right Wing Resurgence


Book Description

In 2008 there were 149 militia groups in the United States. In 2009, that number more than tripled to 512, and now there are nearly 600. In Right-Wing Resurgence, author Daryl Johnson offers a detailed account of the growth of right-wing extremism and militias in the United States and the ever-increasing threat they pose. The author is an acknowledged expert in this area and has been an intelligence analyst working for several federal agencies for nearly 20 years. The book is also a first-hand, insider's account of the DHS Right-Wing Extremism report from the person who wrote it. It is a truthful depiction of the facts, circumstances, and events leading up to the leak of this official intelligence assessment. The leak and its aftermath have had an adverse effect on homeland security. Because of its alleged mishandling of the situation, the Department's reputation has declined in the intelligence and law enforcement communities and the analytical integrity of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis was undermined. Most importantly, the nation's security has been compromised during a critical time when a significant domestic terrorist threat is growing. This book is replete with case studies and interviews with leaders which reveal their agendas, how they recruit, and how they operate around the country. It presents a comprehensive account of an ever-growing security concern at a time when this threat is only beginning to be realized, and is still largely ignored in many circles.




The Myth of Homeland Security


Book Description

"As I write this, I'm sitting in a restaurant in a major U.S. airport, eating my breakfast with a plastic knife and fork. I worked up quite an appetite getting here two hours early and shuffling in the block-long lines until I got to the security checkpoint where I could take off my shoes, remove my belt, and put my carry-on luggage through the screening system . "What's going on? It's homeland security. Welcome to the new age of knee-jerk security at any price. Well, I've paid, and you've paid, and we'll all keep paying-but is it going to help? Have we embarked on a massive multibillion-dollar boondoggle that's going to do nothing more than make us feel more secure? Are we paying nosebleed prices for "feel-good" measures? . "This book was painful to write. By nature, I am a problem solver. Professionally I have made my career out of solving complex problems efficiently by trying to find the right place to push hard and make a difference. Researching the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA, INS, the PATRIOT Act, and so forth, one falls into a rabbit's hole of interdependent lameness and dysfunction. I came face to face with the realization that there are gigantic bureaucracies that exist primarily for the sole purpose of prolonging their existence, that the very structure of bureaucracy rewards inefficiency and encourages territorialism and turf warfare."




Open Target


Book Description

Based on his first-hand experiences and observations of how the Department of Homeland Security is failing to make America safe, Ervin shows the real threats we face--from nuclear attack to homegrown terrorism. Pushed out by the White House for refusing to sugarcoat its failures, Ervin candidly discusses the circumstances of his departure. He takes the reader inside the decision-making councils of this newest department of the U.S. government, and shows how his team's prescriptions for urgent change were ignored--leaving the US vulnerable to another terrorist attack.




Annual Threat Assessment


Book Description

"The American people should know as much as possible about the threats facing our nation and what their intelligence agencies are doing to protect them." -Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence (2021) Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community (2021) is an annual report of worldwide threats to the national security of the United States compiled by the US Intelligence Community. It warns of the many perils facing the US, including China's increasing power, the geopolitical risks of Russia, Iran and North Korea, the long-term economic fallout of COVID-19, and global as well as domestic terrorism. This brief report with its short-term threat assessment is a good companion guide to Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World a 2021 report by the National Intelligence Council, which describes specifically long-term global challenges (also available from Cosimo Reports). Students of national security, policymakers, journalists, and anyone interested in US security will find this report essential reading.




Homeland Security and Private Sector Business


Book Description

Since 9/11, the U.S. government and the private sector have devised sophisticated ways of protecting people and assets. The threats have evolved, however, becoming more insidious. They no longer comprise just terrorists who target critical infrastructures. They also include insider threats, such as PFC Manning and NSA contractor Snowden who leaked classified defense information, active shooter incidents like the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, and the 2013 Boston Marathon terrorist bombing. These events make it imperative for the public and private sectors to engage in effective partnership to protect people, facilities, and national infrastructure assets. Homeland Security and Private Sector Business: Corporations' Role in Critical Infrastructure Protection, Second Edition identifies the role the private sector plays in securing our homeland and offers strategies to aid in the fight against national and international threats. Addressing mandates and legislation introduced since the first edition, this new edition includes: Updates to the NIPP (National Infrastructure Protection Plan) New case studies of both proper security policies and procedures in practice versus costly security breaches Greater focus on smaller business and practical "immediate use" guidance New measures for assessing and addressing vulnerabilities and threats New appendices with sample plans and practical checklists Supplying tools that can easily be adapted and applied to every business situation at all budget levels, the book helps businesses counter the total threat, from traditional terrorists to inside betrayers—providing a clear blueprint for securing people and assets.




How Safe Are We?


Book Description

Former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano offers an insightful analysis of American security at home and a prescription for the future. Created in the wake of the greatest tragedy to occur on U.S. soil, the Department of Homeland Security was handed a sweeping mandate: make America safer. It would encompass intelligence and law enforcement agencies, oversee natural disasters, commercial aviation, border security and ICE, cybersecurity, and terrorism, among others. From 2009-2013, Janet Napolitano ran DHS and oversaw 22 federal agencies with 230,000 employees. In How Safe Are We?, Napolitano pulls no punches, reckoning with the critics who call it Frankenstein's Monster of government run amok, and taking a hard look at the challenges we'll be facing in the future. But ultimately, she argues that the huge, multifaceted department is vital to our nation's security. An agency that's part terrorism prevention, part intelligence agency, part law enforcement, public safety, disaster recovery make for an odd combination the protocol-driven, tradition-bound Washington D.C. culture. But, she says, it has made us more safe, secure, and resilient. Napolitano not only answers the titular question, but grapples with how these security efforts have changed our country and society. Where are the failures that leave us vulnerable and what has our 1 trillion dollar investment yielded over the last 15 years? And why haven't we had another massive terrorist attack in the U.S. since September 11th, 2001? In our current political climate, where Donald Trump has politicized nearly every aspect of the department, Napolitano's clarifying, bold vision is needed now more than ever.