Article Archives - Pentagram Advisory

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Observing the absence of usual or the presence of unusual: a new lens on insider threat reporting

In today’s increasingly digital operating environments, organisations rely more than ever on technological solutions and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor insider threats. Sophisticated systems now track access to data, analyse sentiment, and detect behavioural anomalies. While AI can analyse data patterns and flag deviations from the norm, it lacks the nuanced, contextual understanding that humans bring. Often, […]

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Insider threat – the trusted worker with ideological challenges

Article / pentagramadvisory

What happens when someone inside the system, entrusted with national secrets, begins to see another country as their true allegiance? This is the dilemma posed by insider threats – trusted individuals who, whether by intent or negligence, cause harm to the organisations that trust them and rely on them. Within the Australian federal government exists a

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Foreign interference and critical infrastructure: Australia’s expanding national security challenge

Article / pentagramadvisory

“Foreign interference is no longer a hypothetical threat – it is active, evolving, and targeting the systems that underpin our nation’s security.” Mike Burgess, ASIO Director-General, 2025 Threat Assessment According to the 2025 Annual Threat Assessment delivered by ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess, foreign interference and espionage are occurring at “extreme levels” and are “set to increase further”. The

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Insider Threat – Ambulance Victoria

Article / pentagramadvisory

Reporting in March 2025 exposed that Ambulance Victoria had suffered an insider threat event. Media reported that Ambulance Victoria suspected that a “rogue member of staff” had stolen personal and financial data of up to 3,000 Ambulance Victoria members. Reportedly, this ‘rogue member’ had recently ended their employment with Ambulance Victoria, but before they left, on their final day,

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Insider Threat – Luddites in the workplace

Article / pentagramadvisory

A lesson from history – why workers today might sabotage emerging workplace technology. The tsunami of artificial intelligence – AI – that has swamped many facets of peoples’ lives, communications, IT-based activities, leisure, and employment is relentless, and the flooding will likely penetrate even further into the uplands of society and the economy. The force of

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Insider Threat Mitigation Advice for Critical Infrastructure Entities

Article / pentagramadvisory

Prologue In February 2025, the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center (or NCSC) released a report titled Insider Threat Mitigation for U.S. Critical Infrastructure Entities – Guidelines from an Intelligence Perspective. Pentagram Advisory is flagging this report with our followers because its insights are equally valid for Australia’s critical infrastructure owners and operators, as defined by Australia’s Security

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Insider Threat: An approach to identifying psychosocial hazards to mitigate insider threat

Article / pentagramadvisory

When does a trusted employee become a risk? Insider threats do not emerge overnight—they are often the result of a gradual shift driven by workplace and personal factors. While organisations focus on technical defences, they can overlook the human element: the psychosocial hazards that can turn loyal employees into potential insider threats. To explore this

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In the National Interest – Two Recent Insider Threat Events in Australia

Article / pentagramadvisory

In the workplace setting an employer provides money and / or other benefits to a person in exchange for their labour, knowledge, and time. The relationship is formally set out in a contract which details obligations that fall upon both the employer and employee, contractor, or volunteer – a principle known as quid pro quo. Examples of obligations

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Who can you trust? Securing critical infrastructure: Critical Worker Identification and Management Framework

Article / pentagramadvisory

Employees in organisations hold varying levels of responsibility and trust, with some having direct access to critical assets, systems, protected information, decision-making process, and key operational functions. Being a critical worker is both a privilege and a responsibility – those entrusted with access to critical assets play an important role in maintaining the security and continuity of essential services. However,

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The missing home for an Insider Threat Program: Why organisations need a dedicated function

Article / pentagramadvisory

“The problem with collective responsibility is that it leads to collective irresponsibility.” Michael Novak, an American philosopher, journalist, and diplomat In today’s complex geostrategic threat environment, insider threats pose one of the most significant challenges to security of the Australian critical infrastructure companies. Whether malicious or unintentional, threats originating from within an organisation can have devastating

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