Theft from partners and insider leaks are perceived to be the biggest threats to data security, according to the latest Insider Threat report. The research shows that more than 55 percent of European financial organizations believe the gravest threat comes from third-party contractors, while 52 percent say that insider threats are hardest to detect.

The report, published yesterday by analyst firm Ovum, also reveals the nature of insider threats is changing, with a greater risk being posed by compromised user accounts and malicious privileged insiders.

The Insider Threat report focused on the responses of IT decision-makers at financial service companies in the UK, France and Germany, revealing how firms in this sector are evaluating and mitigating this risk. One of the biggest concerns cited by over 50 percent of organizations is controlling the legitimate network access of third-party contractors. Other perceived threats come from privileged users like network and IT administrators (43 percent), and other employees with legitimate access to sensitive data (also 43 percent).

One problem is that the definition of a ‘privileged user’ has evolved, wrote Paul Ayers, vice president of EMEA at Vormetric, in a blog post. Nowadays, privileged users encompass “anybody with the necessary credentials to view and modify data across corporate networks, including contractors.”

Increased adoption of cloud computing technology is also a concern for European organizations, with 45 percent of respondents saying insider threats were now harder to detect due to the use of these resources.

“These organizations have used cloud technologies to increase flexibility and gain a competitive edge for a very long time now, and with the pace of today’s technological advancement, security should no longer be an inhibitor to adoption,” Ayers wrote. “As cloud providers bolster their defenses to meet enterprise security needs, it has become possible to embrace new IT models such as cloud computing without comprising the integrity of the data that you hold.”

Big Data is also a big worry for financial services organizations. The industry is one of the leading adopters of this technology, and 69 percent of European firms cited the security of their Big Data project reports as a main concern.

That’s not to say the threat is deterring anyone. “Organizations are moving ahead with big data implementations – both to drive business advantage and to enhance security,” said Matt Asay, vice president of marketing and business development at MongoDB, a sponsor of the report.

More than 76 percent of financial services organizations plan to spend big to address these threats. Some 45 percent of organizations cite compliance as their main reason for doing so, while others were keen to protect their businesses’ reputation and implement best practices.

“Typically, financial services firms’ very business is built on generating and processing the kind of data that cybercriminals dream of,” said Alan Kessler, CEO at Vormetric.

“You may remember the case of the Korean Credit Bureau in January this year, when financial data belonging to a staggering 20 million South Koreans – 40% of the country’s entire population – was stolen as a result of insider theft. In this instance a third-party contractor tasked with improving security systems is thought to have smuggled the data out using USB sticks, later selling the information to phone marketing companies. Organizations are struggling to know exactly who has access to what data at any one time – if you don’t know this you can’t make any assurances of its security.”

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