Insider Threats in Banking Sector: Detection, Prevention, and Mitigation

The banking sector, being a custodian of sensitive financial data, has increasingly become a prime target of insider threats. Unlike external cyberattacks, insider threats originate from within the organization, making detection, prevention, and mitigation more complex. This study provides a comprehensive review of scholarly and industry literature from 2015 to 2024, focusing on insider threats in financial institutions. The article categorizes insider attacks into four key vectors—data exfiltration, misuse of privileged access, social engineering, and cloud exploitation. It examines modern detection mechanisms such as user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), anomaly detection, and deception technologies, alongside preventive frameworks including Zero Trust Architecture, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and employee awareness training. Mitigation strategies like continuous monitoring, blockchain-based audit trails, and incident response automation are also discussed. The findings highlight that while technical solutions have matured, human-centric and behavioral models remain underutilized. The study concludes with a call for integrating technical tools and human factors through predictive analytics and cross-disciplinary collaboration to effectively manage insider threats in banking.