In the Information Security field, it’s essential to be aware of insider threats. It’s just as important to know about the insider threats to your finances. In an organization, an insider threat is an employee or contractor who has legitimate access to network resources and can cause damage the network either intentionally or unintentionally. Unintentional insider threats come from IT staff who misconfigure a firewall or the operating system of a computer. The intentional insider threat is someone who may have a grudge against the company and wants to damage it. The person may want to gain financially by embezzling funds or colluding with external individuals who may profit from gaining access to sensitive information. In either case, the consequences can be financially costly and damage the organization’s reputation.
The same goes for your personal finances. Many people are defrauded by people they know — their teenage children, house guests, adult children with substance abuse issues or financial problems. The insider threat can be a spouse with substance abuse or mental health issues. It might be a spouse who plans to clean out your joint financial accounts before a divorce.
There are many unfortunate stories of parents being robbed by their adult children, such as this story of a mother whose son stole $4.5 million from her. The son used a mobile payment app to transfer the money out of her account and into his.
There are also cases of teenagers stealing from their parents. Here is the story of a 13-year-old boy who charged £80,000 to his father’s credit card to fuel a gambling addiction.
Even young children can cause some financial damage to their parents. Read the story about a 6-year-old girl who used her mother’s phone to order $400 worth of toys from Amazon. It turns out to be a cute story, but highlights how quickly and easily parents can be on the hook for big expenses their children incur, thanks to how easy technology has made online shopping.
