Managing Director of Gecko Strategies SRL, former coordinator of the EU-funded AITRAP Project, on behalf of CoESS. Current Director General of CoESS and ASSA-i.
Connecting Security, Leadership and Human Behaviour
“Insider Threat Prevention sits at the intersection of security, leadership, and human psychology; the three areas I’ve been most passionate about throughout my career.
One of the most effective ways to prevent insider incidents is, quite simply, to ensure good management practices. As a leadership trainer, I’ve seen firsthand how toxic management environments can harm both people and performance. Today, research confirms what many of us have long suspected: poor management isn’t just a performance issue; it can be a root cause of negligent, accidental, or even malicious insider actions.
The shift to teleworking post-Covid has made this even more challenging. When people are isolated, dispersed, or disconnected from the workplace culture, it becomes harder to build trust, cohesion, and a shared sense of responsibility.
My journey with this topic began in 2017, when I joined the EU-funded AITRAP project, which led to the creation of the Help2Protect platform. That’s when I truly grasped the scale, and complexity, of the Insider Threat reality. It’s a tricky issue, because unless you actively measure your exposure or suffer a direct incident, it’s easy to stay in denial… until it’s too late.
Data on Insider Threats remains limited, especially outside the US. This lack of visibility speaks volumes about how underdeveloped the topic still is in many parts of the world, including Europe.
The war in Ukraine, as well as high-profile Insider incidents linked to state actors from China, Russia and beyond, have made the issue more urgent than ever.
Today, Insider Threat policies are not only a legal requirement in EU aviation security — they are a core component of corporate due diligence.
To address this, Help2Protect offers targeted e-learning modules that raise awareness across all staff levels and outline the essential building blocks of a robust Insider Threat Mitigation Programme. These resources are a practical first step toward reducing risk and fostering a stronger internal security culture.
I hope you find these resources helpful. And I’d love to hear from you — let us know what you think of our current modules and what you’d like to see next.”