Insider threat

Military missions complicate insider threat protection

It has been almost four years since President Barack Obama issued the National Insider Threat Policy and Minimum Standards for Executive Branch Insider Threat Programs, which identified six minimum standards that executive-branch agencies are required to include in their insider-threat programs.

Defense agencies and the military branches are working to meet those standards, which total 26 when all of the subtasks under each of the six broad topics are included. However, they are encountering some challenges connected to their missions that are complicating the task.

The military services have a global footprint. The Navy has ships afloat and monitoring a network on a ship is always a challenge. The presence of reservists, who often have what amounts to a dual identity between civilian duty and times of service.