Fences, cameras and guards are designed to keep the wrong people out. They do little about people who are already allowed in. Employees, contractors and long-standing suppliers have access, knowledge of your routines and, often, the trust of colleagues. When one of them causes harm, deliberately or through carelessness, the damage can be greater than any break-in.
What insider risk looks like
Insider incidents range widely: stock or cash theft, fraud through payment or procurement systems, sharing access or information with outsiders, deliberate damage after a dispute, or simple carelessness such as propping open a door or sharing a password. Not every insider is malicious. Many incidents begin with pressure — financial difficulty, a grievance, or approaches from outside.
Warning signs worth noticing
No single sign proves anything, and suspicion without evidence damages trust. But patterns are worth attention: access outside normal hours without a reason, resistance to taking leave or sharing duties, unexplained changes in lifestyle, repeated policy exceptions, or a known grievance that has not been addressed.
Controls that work
- Screening proportionate to the role. Higher-trust roles warrant deeper checks, carried out lawfully and with consent.
- Least access. People should have access only to what their job requires, reviewed when roles change.
- Separation of duties. No one person should be able to request, approve and receive a payment or delivery.
- Mandatory leave and rotation in sensitive roles, so irregularities surface.
- Clean exits. Recover keys, cards and system access on the last day, every time.
- A safe way to report concerns, with confidentiality respected.
What this means in practice
- Identify the roles with the most access to cash, stock, data or systems.
- Match screening depth to those roles.
- Review access rights at least twice a year.
- Build an exit checklist and use it for every departure.
Talk to us about role-based screening and insider risk. → Background checks
