Capterra Glossary
A rogue employee is a staff member that undermines the rules and regulations of the organization they work for. Since many businesses allow their workforce to bring their personal devices to work, employees are more tempted than ever to subvert the cybersecurity best practices set by their organizations. There are three types of rogue employees. The ambitious employee is resourceful, meaning they will avoid following cybersecurity best practices to optimize their workflow.The disgruntled employee intends to leak or steal company data as a form of backlash against their organization. The negligent employee breaks cybersecurity protocol because they are simply not concerned with the consequences of poor cybersecurity practices. To mitigate the threat of rogue employees, businesses will often monitor the activities of their staff while using company devices and only grant employees access to sensitive information when they need it to fulfill their task assignments.
Small to midsize businesses often train their workforce on the dangers of poor cybersecurity practices and enforce strict data access controls to protect their sensitive data. Often, tech startups will implement the principle of least privilege (POLP), a cybersecurity practice that encourages organizations to only allow employees access to the data resources they need to complete their job requirements. This helps ensure that only trusted company staff are able to access sensitive data and critical systems, deterring the risk of employee espionage.