Cost of Insider Threats 2020 Report

The key takeaway is that, across all three insider threat types outlined above, both the frequency and cost of insider threats have increased dramatically over the course of two years. For example, the overall cost of insider threats is rising, with a 31% increase from $8.76 million in 2018 (Ponemon) to $11.45 million in 2020. In addition, the number of incidents has increased by a staggering 47% in just two years, from 3,200 in 2018 (Ponemon) to 4,716 in 2020. This data shows that insider threats are still a lingering and often under-addressed cybersecurity threat within organisations, compared with external threats.
We interviewed 964 IT and IT security practitioners in 204 organisations in North America (United States and Canada), Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia‑Pacific. Interviews were completed in September 2019. Each organisation experienced one or more material events caused by an insider. Our targeted organisations were business organisations with a global head count of 1,000 or more employees. These organisations experienced a total of 4,716 insider incidents over the past 12 months.