Report by Exabeam
From Human to Hybrid: How AI and the Analytics Gap Are Fueling Insider Risk
Key Findings
In the Middle East, unauthorised GenAI is the top insider concern (31%).
More than three-quarters of organisations (76%) report some level of unapproved Generative AI (GenAI) usage.
Government organisations are bracing for the steepest rise (73%) in insider threats.
The majority (54%) of organisations expect insider threat growth to continue.
Unapproved GenAI usage rates are highest in technology (40%), financial services (32%), and government (38%).
AI-enhanced phishing and social engineering are the most concerning tactics (27%) for insider threats.
53% of cybersecurity professionals expect insider threats to increase.
Over the past year, more than half of organisations (53%) have seen a measurable increase in insider incidents.
64% of cybersecurity professionals view insiders (whether malicious or compromised) as a greater risk than external actors.
88% of organisations state they have insider threat programmes.
Just 44% of organisations use user and entity behaviour analytics (UEBA) for insider threat detection.
97% of organisations use some form of AI in their insider threat tooling.
Two of the top three current insider threat vectors are now AI-related.
74% of cybersecurity professionals report that AI is making insider threats more effective.
Asia-Pacific and Japan lead in projected insider threat growth (69%).
In the Middle East, nearly one-third (30%) of organisations anticipate a decrease in insider threats.
Manufacturing expects a 60% rise in insider threats.
Healthcare expects a 53% rise in insider threats.
More than half of executives believe AI tools are fully deployed, contrasting with managers and analysts who report many are still in pilot or evaluation stages