Breach From Within: Introduction to Insider Risk and Threats

Breach from Within: Introduction to Insider Risk and Threats examines one of today’s most complex security challenges: the threat that originates from trusted insiders. While many security programs focus on external attacks, this course shifts attention to the human, behavioral, and organizational factors that drive insider incidents. Drawing on real-world cases and interdisciplinary research, learners explore how insider risk develops over time, why warning signs are often missed, and how insider threats can escalate beyond data breaches into workplace violence, critical infrastructure disruption, and national security threats. The course emphasizes proactive, ethical, and risk-based approaches to prevention, integrating insights from psychology, organizational behavior, and modern security frameworks. Led by Dr. Steve Sin, Director of the Unconventional and Asymmetric Threats Division at the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), this course provides a human-centered perspective often missing from traditional security education. No technical background is required—just curiosity and a desire to better understand one of the most pressing security risks organizations face today.