Insider Risk Is Now a National Security Issue — And We’re Still Missing a Critical Signal

Across the US and Europe, modern conflict is increasingly hybrid, deniable, and asymmetric. Critical infrastructure operators, government agencies, defence suppliers, and technology providers are no longer on the sidelines, they are on the front line. What stands out in this report is not just the scale of insider incidents, but why they are increasing.

From cyber threats to human leverage

The report shows how nation-state actors increasingly rely on organised crime and proxy networks to conduct sabotage, espionage, and disruption. These actors don’t need zero-days or perimeter breaches. They need people. Insiders—employees, contractors, vendors, or third-party personnel—offer access, deniability, and efficiency. And critically, they are often targeted not because of ideology, but because of leverage.

Blackmail, coercion, and extortion remain among the most effective tools in hybrid warfare. Individuals with access to sensitive systems or infrastructure who also carry hidden personal vulnerabilities become prime targets for hostile intelligence services and criminal intermediaries.

The report lays this out clearly. It also exposes a structural gap.

The uncomfortable gap in insider risk programmes

Most insider risk programmes today focus on:

• Governance and policy
• Cultural awareness
• Post-incident investigation
• Behavioural indicators once damage has already begun

These elements are necessary—but they are reactive by design.

What is often missing is visibility into pre-incident human vulnerability: who could realistically be pressured before access is abused. In critical infrastructure, defence, energy, transport, telecoms, and public sector environments, one compromised individual can have cascading national consequences.

Where NetClean fits in the modern insider risk stack

This is where NetClean operates—not as a policy layer or surveillance tool, but as a security-grade insider risk indicator.

NetClean provides organisations with:

• A signal of high-risk digital behaviour linked to coercion and blackmail exposure
• Visibility into hidden human vulnerabilities that traditional monitoring cannot surface
• A way to address insider risk before recruitment, coercion, or compromise occurs

In the context of the Insider Risk Trend Report 2026, NetClean acts as:

• An upstream threat-intelligence feed for insider risk programmes
• A complement to behavioural analytics, investigations, and awareness initiatives
• A missing layer for organisations operating in national-security-relevant environments

For federal agencies and critical infrastructure operators, this matters. Insider risk is no longer theoretical. It is actively exploited by adversaries who understand that people remain the softest—and most valuable—attack surface.

Why this layer can no longer be ignored

The report makes one thing clear: insider risk has become strategic, geopolitical, and systemic.

Hostile actors are no longer looking only for technical vulnerabilities. They are looking for people they can pressure—quietly, remotely, and with deniability. Insider risk programmes that stop at policy, awareness, or post-incident response are no longer sufficient on their own.

If hidden human vulnerability is not visible, insider risk is not being managed. It is simply being left to chance.