A recent report by Code42 examines the emerging inside threats that organizations are facing. The study revealed that insider data leakage poses a greater threat to security with the introduction of AI technology.

Monthly insider-caused data loss, exposure, leakage and thefts have increased by 28% since 2021. Out of all respondents surveyed in this report, 85% anticipate that this increase in insider-driven information loss will continue over the next year.

A majority of companies (99%) have established information protection solutions. However, 78% of cybersecurity leaders report instances of sensitive data breaches, leaks or exposures, and 85% say that their organization’s sensitive information is vulnerable to emerging AI technologies.

In regard to the risk AI presents, many cybersecurity leaders express concern that their organization’s employees may not be adhering to generative AI policies in place. Furthermore, 87% report concern that their organization’s employees may accidentally leak sensitive data by inputting it into generative AI.

Insider data loss costs organizations money, time and resources. The report found that the average monetary cost of employee-driven data loss was $15 million. Respondents report spending an average of three hours per day to addressing insider-caused data events, and 72% of cybersecurity leaders report being concerned that they may lose their job in the event of an uninvestigated insider data breach.