How to Spot the Disengaged Employee

I loved this video training module from the SysAdmin, Audit, Network and Security Institute (officially the Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies, a private U.S. for-profit company founded in 1989 that specializes in information security and cybersecurity training). In the "Secure the Human" series, you are cautioned to look out for "disengaged employees."

Consulting and survey firms like Gallup have raised the alarm about "employee engagement," saying that workplaces should track how tuned in their employees are to the employer's strategy and helping advance the organization’s goals.

The SANS Institute takes it one step further and says that employees and managers should be on the lookout for those who would actively harm the organization, grabbing intellectual property and downloading it with malicious intent. You will know these types because they were once engaged but have now begun to act strangely, distancing themselves from coworkers, showing up late, and being lackadaisical.

I had to grab the illustration from their video. The suspected perpetrator guy in the foreground used to look like the others in the background. But he became disengaged. We know this because, while he furiously absconds with the latest product launch plans via the company’s secure VPN (unmonitored?), he is disheveled, neglects personal hygiene, forgets to shave, and starts wearing mismatched wacky clothing to work!

Can you spot the disengaged employee?

We need to keep an eye on this gent for he is obviously not engaged.