Characteristics of an Insider Threat from a Security Perspective

C.

From a security perspective, insider threats refer to individuals within an organization who have access to sensitive information and systems, and who may intentionally or unintentionally cause harm to the organization's security posture.

The attributes that best illustrate an insider threat are as follows:

A. Unauthorized, unintentional, benign: This set of attributes does not fit the definition of an insider threat. An unauthorized individual would not have access to sensitive information or systems, and therefore cannot be considered an insider. Additionally, an unintentional action would not be deliberate or malicious, and would likely not cause harm to the organization. Finally, a benign action would not have negative consequences for the organization's security.

B. Unauthorized, intentional, malicious: This set of attributes describes an insider threat that is intentionally causing harm to the organization. An unauthorized individual may have gained access to sensitive information or systems through social engineering or other means, and is now using that access to cause harm. This harm may be deliberate and malicious, such as stealing data or introducing malware.

C. Authorized, intentional, malicious: This set of attributes describes an insider threat who is authorized to access sensitive information or systems, but is intentionally causing harm. This individual may have legitimate access to systems and data, but is using that access for malicious purposes, such as stealing data or sabotaging systems.

D. Authorized, unintentional, benign: This set of attributes describes an insider threat who is authorized to access sensitive information or systems, but is unintentionally causing harm. This may happen, for example, when an employee inadvertently introduces malware to the organization's network or makes a mistake that leads to a security breach. The action is unintentional and not malicious, but can still have negative consequences for the organization's security.

Therefore, the answer that BEST illustrates the characteristics of an insider threat from a security perspective is B: Unauthorized, intentional, malicious.