Disgruntled Staff
Far more unsettling than the prospect of employee error
causing harm to a network is the potential for an angry or
vengeful staff member to inflict damage. Angry employees,
often those who have been reprimanded, fired, or laid off,
might vindictively infect their corporate networks with
viruses or intentionally delete crucial files. This group is
especially dangerous because it is usually far more aware
of the network, the value of the information within it,
where high-priority information is located, and the
safeguards protecting it.
Snoops
Whether content or disgruntled, some employees might
also be curious or mischievous. Employees known as
“snoops” partake in corporate espionage, gaining
unauthorized access to confidential data in order to
provide competitors with otherwise inaccessible
information. Others are simply satisfying their personal
curiosities by accessing private information, such as
financial data, a romantic e-mail correspondence between
coworkers, or the salary of a colleague. Some of these
activities might be relatively harmless, but others, such as
