The potential for harm to an organization from people who have authorized access to its assets, including employees, contractors, and business partners.
Insider risk encompasses both malicious and non-malicious threats from trusted individuals who have legitimate access to organizational systems and data. According to Gartner's official definition, insider risk management involves 'solutions that use advanced analytics, monitoring, and behavior-based risk models to detect, analyze and mitigate risks posed by trusted insiders within an organization.' Ponemon Institute's 2025 report shows organizations experience an average of 13.5 insider incidents per year, costing $676,517 per incident. Gartner's 2024 research reveals that 71% of organizations feel vulnerable to insider threats, with a 48% increase in reported attacks, while 54% report their programs are less than effective (Gartner G00805757, 2024).
A set of tools and processes used to ensure that sensitive data is not lost, misused, or accessed by unauthorized users.
A malicious threat to an organization that comes from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates.