It’s 2025, do you think suspicious email clicks or reckless downloads are harmful? Yes, they are, it’s just the extent of insider threats that is added to the list of cyber risks. Discreet and hard-to-detect patterns are rising in the modern workspaces due to the expansion of hybrid work systems, sophisticated cyber practices, and IoT proliferation.
In response, many organizations are now seeking to adopt employee computer monitoring software to keep an eye on real-time user activities and flag anomalies. Because traditional monitoring solutions often cannot resolve today’s advanced insider threats.
A 2024 Cybersecurity Report by IBM found that 32% of reported data breaches are due to insider threats, where a majority of such cases go unnoticed for weeks or even months. However, the alarming aspect of such insider breaches is not only due to dissatisfaction or malice, but strategic evasion tactics applied by otherwise authorized individuals. Therefore, solely relying on conventional monitoring practices would likely miss out on some critical blind spots.
Find the five common insider threats that your existing PC monitoring setup might be overlooking, and what can be done to prevent or resolve them in 2025.
Table of Contents
1. Encrypted messaging app leaks
WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal are globally used end-to-end encrypted messaging applications where corporate communication channels can be easily bypassed by ill-natured insiders. While many employee monitoring software can track Slack messages and emails, they often overlook the encrypted third-party apps on personal devices. If not detected early, these apps become a very convenient source to quickly share sensitive data with outsiders. In many cases, insiders themselves may use anonymous accounts or burner numbers to hide their identities.
Mitigation tips:
- Prohibit unknown app installations or whitelist approved communication platforms.
- Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to track file transfers and clipboard activity.
- Continually track for any unusual signs of unregistered peripherals or dual device usage.
2. Cloud storage exfiltration
Even the well-monitored corporate cloud environments can be bypassed with creative tactics. For instance, services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or other foreign-based cloud apps can be easily accessed through personal logins, web browsers, or drag-and-drop uploads on any unmanaged devices.
To make the file exfiltration go undetected by the DLP (Data Loss Prevention) systems, employees often take advantage of incognito mode, break documents into smaller batches, or rename files with misleading titles. A 2025 study by CyberEdge Group stated that about 45% of the insider data theft cases mainly involved unmanaged cloud storage devices.
Mitigation tips:
- Train employees on secure document management and about the potential risks of personal cloud storage usage.
- Track cloud-based file uploads and minutely monitor for any suspicious data transfer patterns.
- Enforce Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) to track and limit stealth IT usage.
3. Deepfake verification bypasses
Due to rapid advancement, deepfake technology is now easily accessible to anyone and is being used negatively to bypass identity verification systems. Even in high-security environments, insiders take advantage of AI-generated voice or video deepfakes to disguise themselves as executives or colleagues and gain access to restricted systems or approve fraudulent transfers.
There’s a case in 2024 where in a fintech firm, an insider used a deep-faked voice of their CTO to execute a fraudulent fund transaction of $2.5 million during a routine verification call. Surprisingly, no monitoring system detected any red flags before the fraud.
This kind of threat highlights the necessity for multi-factor biometric and behavioral authentication, a prime feature in employee computer monitoring software, since facial and voice recognition can now be easily exploited with AI manipulation.
Mitigation tips:
- Flag consistent access attempts from face models or AI voice.
- Implement behavior analytics to strictly confirm user identity based on activity history, typing patterns, and mouse movements.
- Invest in context-aware authentication and liveness detection.
4. Unauthorized IoT device access
Modern office setups or remote workspaces all involve smart devices, be it smart assistants, cameras, thermostats, or printers. While these smart devices are convenient, they are unmonitored and present quick gateways into corporate networks. A malicious insider can compromise these IoT devices to use as data exfiltration tools even without the company laptop or PC.
For instance, a smart printer, having an open FTP port, can be used to transmit or store files externally. Yet, orthodox PC monitoring cannot even track these variables as the device doesn’t operate on operating systems.
Mitigation tips:
- Sort IoT devices into separate networks or VLANs.
- Conduct IoT security audits and maintain an inventory of all linked devices.
- Track abnormal traffic that originates from uncommon ports or IPs.
5. “Mouse jiggler” and evasion technologies
Mouse jigglers or keyboard macros are considered the most low-tech evasion tools, yet an effective technique in 2025. These small USB-like devices perfectly simulate human movement to bypass idle-time tracking, prevent screen lockers, or activate misleading productivity readings.
Some employees even connect them with virtual machines to fake work presence while engaging in suspicious activity elsewhere. These events make the results produced by monitoring tools less accurate, as they often track keyboard activity or screen captures.
Recently, Digital Shadows, a cybersecurity research firm, conducted a study showing a 33% increase in the purchase and use of hardware-based monitoring evasion tools, especially in remote work systems, since 2023
Mitigation tips:
- Use biometric re-authentication prompts during active sessions.
- Incorporate AI-powered behavior analytics to analyze both activity quality and quantity.
- Regularly review USB port usage logs and ban non-approved hardware devices.
This is where modern employee computer monitoring software, such as Insightful, comes in handy to nullify these insider threats. These tools go beyond simple time tracking and activity logs, offering detailed employee behavior analytics, integration with other business tools, and real-time anomaly detection, accurately recognizing potential insider threats before they become harmful.
Closure
Therefore, if you want to protect your organization, shift your attention towards smarter and adaptive monitoring practices. Address even the smallest of anomalies before exposure of technical blind spots. Assess your existing systems, embrace comprehensive monitoring tools, and encourage your employees to be smart, secure, and productive.
