Insider Threat: The Unexpected Risk
Aviation is an inherently dangerous occupation. While it is true that there are significantly less deaths related to airline travel in comparison to vehicle travel, the overall scope of aviation has many risks. These risks range from the maintenance perspective where technicians perform repairs on multi-million dollar airborne vehicles, to pilot shortages and fatigue. One of the unseen threats and risks to the airline industry is the Insider Threat.
Insider threat is defined as a person who has malicious intent to do harm. (Aviation Insider, 2017). This could be a TSA agent who turns a blind eye to contraband being passed through security, it could be ticket counter employee who is passing information on flight times and routes to a foreign government, a maintenance technician who is disgruntled with their job and wants to create havoc and harm others. There are many forms an insider threat can take.
While the risk is always present, there are processes in place to help reduce and minimize the impact of insider threat. Employers must implement training regiments that highlight the insider threat. By bringing attention to the behaviors and warning indicators of a threat, this can help bring light on instances where an insider threat may occur. Similar to herd immunity, if more people are on-board to combat the threat and aware of it, this can prevent those with ill intent from acting.
Vigorous vetting processes should also be enforced when hiring new employees. Thorough background checks, credit report monitoring, and mental health assessments can all be safeguards that reduce the risk of an insider threat. It is imperative that airlines take precautions to minimize opportunity and the risk of insider threats. The stakes are incredibly high!
Aviation insider threat: what we know, our findings, and what we recommend. 2017. Web. 13 May 2021. https://www.dni.gov/files/PE/Documents/4---2017-AEP_Aviation-Insider-Paper.pdf
David,
ReplyDeleteVery informative post! Aviation is defiantly a dangerous career field, but not too many things go array when all practices and laws are followed. I could never imagine that someone working within TSA would want to let something like that happen, but I guess many people will do many things for the right amount of money.
I have read up on insider threats. It seems that the TSA is doing an excellent job at teaching people how to enhance their insider threat identification and teach them how to mitigate problems if they arise (IATA, 2018). This training also teaches TSA employees how to develop their strategies to determine who is not a threat (IATA, 2018). The TSA is also cracking down on the individuals that they hire. The TSA checks criminal records, employment history, travel history and makes sure they are who they say they are (IATA, 2018).
The TSA teaches its employees two measures to stop insider threats. SPOT “measures aim to identify behaviors or activates of concern and to identify any changing or suspicious behavior patterns that might help to detect a potential insider” (IATA, 2018). They also use STOP “should aim to prevent or deter an insider from exploiting, or intending to exploit their roles for unauthorized purposes” (IATA, 2018). So, we can all rest assured that TSA is aware of these threats and will not have an aviation-related terrorist attack if they can say anything about it.
Again, great post! Keep up the good work.
- V / R, Jordon Martinez
Resources:
INSIDER THREAT IN CIVIL AVIATION. IATA. (2018, June). https://www.iata.org/contentassets/e55ae27b2fc34343a1143fca5129c8dd/insider-threats-position.pdf.