In the Star Wars Trilogy, there are two very clear sides of the moral spectrum. First, we have the rebel forces, keepers of the Force and warriors fighting against the evil Emperor. The Emperor, and the imperial forces that fight for him, are the evil masterminds who want to destroy the Force and the source of all goodness. While other battles may not seem quite as grand, there are parallels from Star Wars that apply to a multitude of other situations. One of these situations is the risk of insider threat in your organization. There are lessons to be learned from Darth Vader, the Emperor, Luke Skywalker, and others. Here are the three we like the best:
Use the Force
While you may not have the actual Force, you do have decision-making power. Decide now to secure your enterprise against the threat of insider data breachers. You don’t want to look back with regrets (like Vodafone had to). Use your force for good before it’s too late.
Call in Your Allies
Defeating the Empire wasn’t a job for just Luke Skywalker. Sure, he was the one chosen to lead the charge, but he had plenty of help from his friends, fellow fighter pilots, Ewoks, and a host of other political leaders working towards the same goal. The same goes for you in your company. You don’t have to do it alone. Use your dedicated team and even outside software vendors to make your IT infrastructure compliant and secure.
Beware of Human Nature
Every company in existence is subject to insider threat. Because human nature is so volatile and inconsistent, this fact will never change. The key is to set up a least privilege solution and implement rules to keep precious information secure from those who don’t absolutely need it. It’s not enough to simply trust people to remain loyal and do what you ask- look how that worked out for the Emperor. He trusted Darth Vader completely, but Vader ultimately threw him to his death! Even those we think will never betray us need least privilege.
