Massive layoffs have been making headlines for months. In fact, the steep annual drop in jobs last year marked the highest annual job-loss total since 1945, with a record rate of hemorrhaging at the end of 2008 bringing the year's total job losses to 2.6 million. And with the national unemployment rate reaching a staggering 8.9% in May, this trend shows no signs of slowing.  

During these turbulent times, security analysts are warning companies to be even more on alert against potential insider threats. Not only are disgruntled employees more likely to lash out against their employers, but stressed employees also make easier targets for opportunistic rivals. 

Even when employees are fired for legitimate reasons, they may become bitter and launch an internal attack. Last year in San Francisco, for example, Terry Childs, a computer network administrator for the city's department of technology, tampered with the network that contains the city's sensitive data and created an administrative password that illicitly gave him exclusive administrative access. 

Even independent of the current economic climate, attacks by company employees are now more common than attacks launched by outsiders and hackers. In fact, FBI statistics suggest that 70% of attacks in 2007 originated within organizations-and the number keeps growing by the year. Similarly, the threats continue to become more wide-ranging. Today, the types of attacks run the gamut from information theft to network shutdown, and almost no industries are immune. Financial institutions, retailers and technology companies remain the hardest hit, but hospitals, colleges and any other organizations with large inventories of private personal data are now frequent targets. 

In a 2008 case, the FBI alleges that former Intel employee Biswahoman Pani of Worcester, Massachusetts copied an array of sensitive documents, including 13 top-secret company files containing design plans for future processor chips. In the complaint filed in a Boston district court, the FBI affidavit claimed that more than 100 pages of sensitive Intel documents, as well as 19 computer-designed drawings, were found during a search of Pani's house. 

A survey polling CIOs and IT leaders that my company, Unity Solutions, recently conducted illustrates the macro trends. The findings revealed that 43% of respondents have experienced some type of fraud, theft or loss as a result of insider attacks, with 12% believing that their organizations have experienced substantial malevolent activity. On top of this, 22% believe that dissatisfied, under-recognized employees are most apt to commit some type of fraud or theft. And although nearly one-third believe that employees with a technical background pose the greatest threat, the truth is that these days, an employee needs little technological savvy to launch an insider attack. 

To properly safeguard against this risk, organizations must design better security processes and bolster technological measures to protect their systems, data and customers. Currently, however, a slim 11% believe they consistently adhere to solid solutions and processes to combat insider threat. 

Developing an adequate security policy is a relatively straightforward process, but is often overlooked or not taken seriously. To be effective, strong security policies must be enforced with vigilant monitoring technologies. And once the proper policies are created and implemented, they must be kept current. 

Although these policies are an important step, it is equally important for IT to ensure that policies are socialized throughout the organization-and enforced. IT also needs to consistently monitor users with privileged access, and restrict access as people move within the organization. And companies that lay off large numbers of people or go through a consolidation or merger need to ensure former employees no longer have access to internal systems and data. Although it may sound like simple common sense, make sure that user account is disabled immediately if a person either leaves the company or is fired-as we have seen time and time again, sometimes common sense is not so common. 

Ten Red Flags of Insider Threat 

Tough economic times create uncertainty in the workplace, causing employees to become worried about losing their jobs or promotions, especially given their uncertainly concerning financial liabilities and mortgages. An employee, for instance, could be experiencing financial problems or may have lost her home to foreclosure because she could no longer meet rising mortgage payments. With this in mind, companies should keep a watchful eye out for disgruntled employees. Here are 10 warning signs that an employee may pose a risk: 

1. A worker who habitually violates company policy or "breaks the rules" may not be trustworthy enough to handle sensitive computer information.   
2. An employee who suddenly starts working odd hours, stays late for no obvious reason or keeps asking for overtime to make ends meet could pose a risk.   
3. Someone trying to gain access to systems and information that they really have no need to access could be a sign that something is amiss.   
4. An employee who prints out large volumes of data after hours or e-mails it to herself could be cause for concern.   
5. A worker who displays irrational behavior such as threatening verbal statements toward the company or supervisors should be taken seriously and closely monitored.   
6. Recent excessive and unexplained absences from the job, concentration problems, increased signs of poor health or hygiene, and the inability to accept responsibility for errors are all warning signs of a distressed employee.   
7. Extreme mood swings or inappropriate display of emotions on the job such as uncontrolled anger or excessive crying are warning signs of extreme stress.   
8. An employee who is preoccupied with his computer activity or seems to be scheming against a specific supervisor could be cause for concern.   
9. A staff member who is living far beyond his means could be cause for concern. Illegal activities could provide an outside source of income to support a lavish lifestyle.   
10. Increased stress in an employee's personal life, including financial or relationship problems, could cause him to act out of character, making him more prone to questionable activity. 

Manoj Patel is the CEO and founder of Unity Solutions.