ObserveIT Competes in 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards

The greatest threat to businesses today isn’t the outsider trying to get in. It’s the people you trust—the ones who already have the keys.
The greatest threat to businesses today isn’t the outsider trying to get in. It’s the people you trust—the ones who already have the keys. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)

Whether intentional or not, employees of any organization and its extended network of contractors pose a security threat to the organization’s critical systems and data.

Today, 60 percent of all attacks are carried out by insiders which, on average, costs $8.76 million per incident.

(ObserveIT’s insider threat management solution arms security teams with the ability to detect insider threats, streamline the incident investigation process, maintain regulatory compliance, and prevent data loss, in one easy-to-use interface. Courtesy of ObserveIT and YouTube. Posted on Jul 2, 2018.)

ObserveIT, a leading insider threat management provider, helps its customers reduce the risk of threat resulting from the malicious or accidental actions of employees, contractors, and vendors by protecting organizations from insider threats across their networks through its cutting-edge insider threat management solution.

ObserveIT’s insider threat management solution arms security teams with the ability to detect insider threats, streamline the incident investigation process, maintain regulatory compliance, and prevent data loss, in one easy-to-use interface.

Designed to mitigate insider security risks, ObserveIT’s product provides real-time detection, deterrence, education, discretionary prevention and 360-degree views of user behavior.

The first step towards minimizing the risk of an #insiderthreat incident is being able to detect it. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)
The first step towards minimizing the risk of an #insiderthreat incident is being able to detect it. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)

It’s strategically built to help companies uncover risky user activity by identifying anomalous behavior in real time, investigating potential incidents, and optimizing security processes through notifications and blocking.

In addition, the rich metadata collected throughout the process and optional video playback capabilities provide irrefutable evidence and reduces investigation time from weeks to days or hours.

Decrease your risk immediately with advanced insider threat detection and prevention. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)
Decrease your risk immediately with advanced insider threat detection and prevention. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)

ObserveIT offers rich, easy-to-understand metadata and optional full playback of security incidents helping organizations achieve compliance with regulations such as GDPR, PCI, SOX, HIPPA, NISPOM and others.

With ObserveIT, organizations are able to not only protect data and reduce risk but also ensure they meet compliance requirements by offering unmatched detection and visibility into user activity.

The solution also offers unique privacy protection for employees and other users via features such as profile anonymization and selective monitoring.

Many organizations manage confidential or proprietary data in systems accessed via an internal network, web or cloud interface, presenting massive security challenges to protecting sensitive data.

Once a potential #insiderthreat is detected, ObserveIT arms #cybersecurity teams to fully investigate the situation with ease. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)
Once a potential #insiderthreat is detected, ObserveIT arms #cybersecurity teams to fully investigate the situation with ease. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)

With ObserveIT’s solution, companies can significantly reduce the risk of security incidents by identifying common insider threat indicators, such as data exfiltration, privilege escalation, and careless behavior on an endpoint, and providing detailed information on exactly what happened so security teams can take efficient, effective action.

Further, by mitigating the risk of internal security breaches, ObserveIT helps companies maintain their corporate budgets, as on average each incident costs companies $8.76 million.

1,700+ Customers in 87 Countries use ObserveIT to Detect and Prevent Insider Threats. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)
1,700+ Customers in 87 Countries use ObserveIT to Detect and Prevent Insider Threats. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)

Observit recently released a study, commissioned with Ponemon Institute, that uncovered the direct and indirect costs associated with insider threats.

The study of more than 700 IT and security practitioners around the world found that the risk posed by insider threats is growing year-over-year, costing organizations significant money and resources as these threats continue to be difficult to detect, identify and manage.

The average cost of an insider-related incident over a 12-month period is $8.76 million, and it takes more than two months, on average, to contain an insider incident.

Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute
Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute

“This research reveals that ignoring the growing threat posed by insiders can be costly for businesses of all sizes and in all industries,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman and Founder of Ponemon Institute. 

“The increasing cost of insider threats – whether caused by negligent or malicious actors – is extremely detrimental for organizations, potentially costing them millions of dollars annually.”

Key findings from the survey include:

  • Types of Insider Threats: All types of insider threats are increasing. Since 2016, the average number of incidents involving employee or contractor negligence has increased by 26 percent, and by 53 percent for criminal and malicious insiders. The average number of credential theft incidents has more than doubled over the past two years, increasing by 170 percent.

ObserveIT Report

  • Negligent Insiders: The majority of respondents (64 percent) cited that the negligent insider is the root of most incidents, followed by criminal and malicious insiders (23 percent) and employee and contractor negligence (13 percent).
  • Costly Credential Risk: Credential risk (or imposter risk) is the costliest type of insider incident at an average of $648,846 per event. This type of incident is 2.5 times more costly than incidents involving employee or contractor negligence at $283,281 per incident. Criminal and malicious insider incidents cost an average of $607,745 per incident.
  • Organizational Risk by Size and Industry: The cost of incidents varies per organizational size and industry. Large organizations with a headcount of more than 75,000 spent an average of $20 million over the past year to resolve insider-related incidents while smaller organizations with a headcount below 500 spent an average of $1.8 million. Companies in financial services, energy and utilities and retail incurred average costs of $12.05 million, $10.23 million and $8.86 million, respectively.
  • Risk by Region: Organizations in North America experienced the highest total cost to contain insider-related incidents at $11.01 million. Asia-Pacific and European and Middle Eastern (EMEA) companies annualized costs to contain insider-related incidents were $5.88 and $7.04 million, respectively.
  • Time to Contain Threats: Insights from the research reinforce that insider threats continue to be difficult to detect, identify and management as it takes an average of more than two months to contain an insider incident. The results also found that only 16 percent of incidents were contained in fewer than 30 days.
Mike McKee, ObserveIT CEO
Mike McKee, ObserveIT CEO

“Insider threats continue to threaten organizations across the globe, ultimately resulting in loss of mission critical data, downtime and lost productivity, and even reputational damage,” explained ObserveIT CEO Mike McKee.

“Understanding the growing costs and time associated with preventing and managing insider threats, organizations need to invest in a holistic cybersecurity solution to assist with real-time detection, deterrence, education and prevention.”

To read the full study, 2018 Cost of Insider Threats: Global Organizationsvisit here.

(Learn More. Mike McKee, CEO of ObserveIT, talks with Ed Amoroso about his journey in cyber security, the growth of his company, and the future risks we face. Courtesy of TAG Cyber and YouTube. Posted on Jul 24, 2018.)

ObserveIT also helps reduce the financial costs associated with remediating a security breach, and helps to protect an organization’s reputation from damage to the brand.

By actively monitoring user behavior and eliminating insider threat, ObserveIT allows enterprises to prevent data exfiltration, unauthorized activity and reallocation of additional time and budget to investigate and resolve security issues.

Trusted by more than 1,700 customers in 87 countries and across a wide range of industries, ObserveIT is the only solution on the market to unify user activity, data activity, and analytics into a single, lightweight interface.

To stop both malicious and accidental insider threats, you must continuously monitor all user activity. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)
To stop both malicious and accidental insider threats, you must continuously monitor all user activity. (Courtesy of ObserveIT)

Additionally, businesses are increasingly choosing ObserveIT over solutions such as Data Loss Prevention (DLP), User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), or User Activity Monitoring (UAM), as they seek to mitigate the risk of insider threats.

Both current and potential customers value the product’s unique and revolutionary capabilities, including its risk scoring dashboard, optional screen recording technology, file diary, file activity monitoring, enhanced alert workflow, clipboard monitoring, advanced reporting capabilities, anonymization, and more.

Paired with ObserveIT’s ease of implementation and ability to anonymize all data for privacy-minded organizations, its advanced features make ObserveIT the clear leader within the competitive landscape, as the company regularly wins in competitive sales situations.

ObserveIT in 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program

AST focuses on Homeland Security and Public Safety Breaking News, the Newest Initiatives and Hottest Technologies in Physical & IT Security, essential to meeting today’s growing security challenges.

2017 ASTORSThe 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of Physical, IT, Port Security, Law Enforcement, Border Security, First Responders, (Fire, EMT, Military, Support Services Vets, SBA, Medical Tech) as well as the Federal, State, County and Municipal Government Agencies – to acknowledge their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’

As an ‘ASTORS’ competitor, ObserveIT will be competing against the industry’s leading providers of Innovative Threat Intelligence Solutions.

To Learn More about the ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, see 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Award Winners Honored at ISC East.

The 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Presentation Luncheon
The 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Presentation Luncheon

Over 100 distinguished guests from National, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Executives from companies allied to Government, gathered from across North America and the Middle East to be honored from disciplines across the Security Industry in their respective fields which included representatives from:

2018 ASTORS

  • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • The Department of Justice
  • The Security Exchange Commission
  • State and Municipal Law Enforcement Agencies
  • The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  • Leaders in Private Security

American Security Today will be holding the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon to honor Nominees, Finalists and Winners on November 14, 2018 at ISC East in New York City.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards at https://americansecuritytoday.com/ast-awards/.

Good luck to Observit on becoming a Winner of the 2018 American Security Today’s Homeland Security Awards Program!

ObserveIT logoFor more information and an exclusive test drive of how ObserveIT helps organizations become more secure and eliminate insider threats, please visit https://www.observeit.com/.

For ‘ASTORS’ Sponsorship Opportunities and More Information on the AST 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, please contact Michael Madsen, AST Publisher at: mmadsen@americansecuritytoday.com or call 732.233.8119 (mobile) or 646-450-6027 (office).