Why policy alone doesn't detect anything
A policy document describes expected behaviour; it has no mechanism for noticing when behaviour deviates from it. Without access logging, data movement monitoring, and a defined escalation path, an organisation only discovers an insider incident after the damage is done and someone notices externally.
This is the same gap as a security policy with no enforcing control behind it — true in writing, absent in practice.
The controls and process that make it real
Logging and alerting on unusual data access or bulk export patterns, a least-privilege access model that limits what any single insider can reach, and a clear, proportionate escalation process that avoids both overreaction and under-reaction, turn the policy into an actual operating capability.
A policy that says 'we monitor for insider threats' isn't a programme. The monitoring is the programme.MNB Security Practice
Key actions
- Log and alert on unusual data access or bulk export patterns
- Enforce least-privilege access to limit any single insider's reach
- Define a proportionate, written escalation process in advance
- Treat policy documents as insufficient without an enforcing control