An insider threat is best described as?

• A. Risk from trusted individuals
• B. External hacker from outside
• C. Malware infection from internet
• D. Natural disasters

Answer: (A)

Insider threat refers to risk that comes from people who already have legitimate access to an organization’s systems and data—employees, contractors, or partners. Because they’re trusted and authorized within the network, they can misuse privileges, exfiltrate information, sabotage operations, or accidentally cause harm more easily than an outside attacker who must first break in. This internal risk is different from external threats like a hacker from outside, malware arriving via the internet, or natural disasters, which originate outside the trusted environment. So the best description is risk from trusted individuals who have access.