Government and businesses constantly are aware of protecting their data from external sources. They know that hackers are relentless in trying to break into the system. A danger that sometimes does receive full recognition is the hacker within the organization. The damage of such a security breach from ‘the inside hacker’ can be enormous. The recent charges against a former Boeing employee is an illustration:

“The financial damage to Boeing if even a small portion of the documents fell into the wrong hands could range between $5 billion and $15 billion, said Walter Gillette, vice president of airplane development and now retired, who was quoted in an arrest report by Seattle police Detective Nick Bauer.”

link: Ex-Boeing employee charged with theft of data

Thumb drives are extremely portable and easily concealed. So are external hard drives. It takes mere seconds to plug into the USB outlet and the amount of data compromised is essentially limitless. The thumb drive is probably smaller than the amount of keys you carry for the house and car. The external hard drives can fit easily into a handbag or backpack. These tools have made data theft very expedient - and a disgruntled employee may be an organization’s worse nightmare.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]hackers, security, internal security breach, boeing, damages[/tags]