ABSTRACT
In recent years, organizations ranging from defense and other
government institutions to commercial enterprises, research labs,
etc., have witnessed an increasing amount of sophisticated insider
attacks that manage to bypass existing security controls. Insider
threats are staged by either disgruntled employees, or employees
engaged in malicious activities such as industrial espionage. The
objectives of such threats range from sabotage, e.g., in order to
disrupt the completion of a project, to exfiltration of sensitive data
such as trade secrets, patents, etc. Insiders are often skilled and
motivated individuals with good knowledge of internal security
measures in the organization. They devise effective and carefully
planned attacks, prepared over long periods of time and
customized to inflict maximum damage. Such attacks are difficult
to detect and protect against, because insiders have the proper
credentials to access services and systems within the organization,
and possess knowledge that may allow them to deceive network
defense controls. As a result, a large number of hosts may be
taken over, allowing malicious insiders to maintain control over
the network even after leaving the organization.