Question

A colleague complains about anxiety and exhaustion, makes coworkers uncomfortable by asking excessive questions about classified projects, and complains about the credit card bills that his wife runs up. How many potential insider threat indicators does this employee display?

Answer 1

Answer: The employee makes 3 or more threat indicators. I chose 3 or more since I am using anxiety and exhaustion as two separate indicators.

Explanation:

When another colleague starts asking about classified projects it should always be a red flag. They may be trying to get information and will use small talk to get the information. Since the colleague is asking excessively, this should be noted.

Talking about any kind of debt should be a red flag also. If the colleague is having financial trouble, this could indicate they are doing other things to get money, such as giving competitors information.

When a colleague speaks about and complains about being anxious and being tired/exhausted, this too should raise a red flag when combined with the rest of his behavior. The colleague may be nervous he will be caught and not sleeping because he is worried about his job and not getting the information needed.

This colleague's behavior needs to be marked as suspicious and turned over to the company security or management to be investigated for an insider threat.