Exclusive: Ex-intel officials take on insiders
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Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
Former intel officials Susan M. Gordon and Mike Studeman are now advising insider risk firm Dtex, the company first shared with Axios.
Why it matters: The two officials are highly respected in the cybersecurity industry, and they hope to bring more awareness to the risk that insiders can pose to a company's security.
The big picture: Dtex provides software tools to help companies manage who has access to their networks and to detect abnormal behavior.
- That behavior can look like an employee downloading a large number of files or logging into systems they don't normally access.
- It also accounts for malicious hackers posing as employees who might log in at weird hours to scope out the company's networks.
Between the lines: Insider threats have been on the rise for years, but they've yet to garner much attention beyond niche cybersecurity and legal circles.
- North Korean IT workers have adopted stealthier ways to nab remote U.S. jobs to help fund their regime's missile programs. Many have stolen legitimate U.S. identities and used AI to pass job interviews.
Zoom in: Gordon and Studeman are the first two members of Dtex's new advisory board.
- Gordon was the principal deputy director of national intelligence during the first Trump administration and served in the CIA for nearly 30 years before that.
- Studeman is a former commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence and current national security fellow at Mitre, a government-funded research organization.
What they're saying: "Not enough people understand truly what's at stake," Studeman told Axios. "I also want to help actually do something about the threats that I describe."
- In a statement to Axios, Gordon said she joined Dtex's advisory board because the company "has the potential to change the balance of power in this cat-and-mouse game" between attackers and cyber defenders.
What's next: Dtex CEO Marshall Heilman told Axios he isn't in a rush to expand the board anytime soon.
- Gordon and Studeman are likely to cover insider threats in their talks at conferences and will work with Heilman on issues facing the company.
