Many enterprises still labor under the misconception that, while internal attacks occur, external attacks are significantly more prevalent. A recently completed study by the Info-Tech Research Group shows that internally sourced breaches actually outnumber those that originate outside of the enterprise by a factor greater than 3:1.

Breaches Not a Myth

In its recently completed survey into IT Security Maturity, the Info-Tech Research Group asked a series of questions about the number and type of security incidents that survey respondents had experienced. Malware attacks were certainly the most commonly experienced threats, but a significant number of respondents experienced actual breaches. These breaches were classified into three types – those that were externally sourced, those that were internally sourced as a result of employee error, and those that were internally sourced as a result of direct malicious activity.