Dive Brief:

• In the last year, 85% of executives responding to a recent survey reported at least one cyber incident, according to the 2016-2017 Kroll Annual Global Fraud and Risk Report. That’s up from 75% in 2015.

• Overall, 44% of respondents to the Kroll survey reported that insiders were the primary perpetrators of a cyber incident.

• A virus or worm was the most common type of incident reported (33%), followed by phishing attacks (26%).

Dive Insight:

External cyberattacks get the most press, but the Kroll survey found insiders — either current or former employees — pose a bigger threat to an organization.

Implementing employee awareness and education can help, and fortunately 82% of the Kroll respondents indicated they have "adopted anti-fraud measures focusing on information such as IT security or technical countermeasures." But additional efforts are clearly needed.

A study published by Mimecast in August found 90% of IT security managers surveyed believe malicious insiders are a major threat to their organizations' security. The study also found 45% of respondents feel they are poorly prepared to defend against malicious insiders.