Seek Legal Advice for Insider Threat Plans
Get legal advice when making and applying plans to handle insider threats.
🏛️ Framework
ASD Information Security Manual (ISM)
🧭 Control effect
Proactive
🔐 Classifications
NC, OS, P, S, TS
🗓️ ISM last updated
May 2024
✏️ Control Stack last updated
19 Mar 2026
🎯 E8 maturity levels
N/A
Legal advice is sought regarding the development and implementation of an insider threat mitigation program.
Source: ASD Information Security Manual (ISM)
Plain language
This control is about getting legal help when planning how to protect your business from insiders who might misuse their access to your systems and data. It's crucial because if you don't involve legal experts, you might break the law or miss crucial protections, leading to damaged reputation, legal trouble, or financial loss.
Why it matters
Without legal guidance, insider threat plans may inadvertently breach laws, resulting in costly legal issues and reputational damage.
Operational notes
Engage legal counsel to review insider threat program design, monitoring, investigations and reporting for privacy and workplace law compliance.
Implementation tips
- Business owners should consult with a legal advisor to understand the legal requirements involved in developing an insider threat program. They can find a legal advisor through a professional legal firm or local business network and schedule a meeting to discuss potential legal considerations.
- HR managers should work with the legal advisor to ensure that all employee agreements include clear expectations regarding data usage and behaviour. This can be done by reviewing current contracts and updating clauses related to confidentiality and data protection.
- The IT team leader should collaborate with the legal advisor to set up a system for monitoring employee activity that complies with privacy laws. This involves identifying monitoring tools that respect privacy but detect unusual behaviour and configuring them accordingly.
- Managers should arrange training sessions for staff that include components about legal responsibilities and data protection obligations. They can do this by integrating privacy regulations and company policies in existing training programs and making it part of the onboarding process.
- The compliance officer should ensure that any action taken against an employee suspected of being a threat is legally sound. This involves documenting all investigative steps and having them reviewed by a legal professional before proceeding with disciplinary actions.
Audit / evidence tips
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Ask: the legal advisor engagement records: Request the agreement or contract between the organisation and the legal advisor concerning insider threat programs
Good: is a clear record showing ongoing legal consultation on insider threats
-
Ask: updated employee contracts: Request examples of employee contracts that include insider threat clauses
Good: result is contracts showing these updated sections, approved by a legal advisor
-
Ask: documentation of monitoring tools used: Request the list of monitoring tools implemented to detect insider threats
Good: includes detailed documentation reviewed by a legal professional
-
Ask: to see training materials for staff: Request copies of training materials or programs addressing legal responsibilities in data protection
Good: outcome is comprehensive materials with legal input
-
Ask: incident response records: Request records of any investigations or actions taken against insiders
Good: record demonstrates all steps were taken with legal oversight
Cross-framework mappings
How ISM-1626 relates to controls across ISO/IEC 27001, Essential Eight, and ASD ISM.
These mappings show relationships between controls across frameworks. They do not imply full equivalence or certification.
ISO 27001
| Control | Notes | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Supports (3) | ||
| Annex A 5.1 | ISM-1626 requires seeking legal advice specifically for insider threat mitigation program development and implementation | |
| Annex A 5.31 | ISM-1626 requires an organisation to seek legal advice when developing and implementing an insider threat mitigation program | |
| Annex A 5.34 | Annex A 5.34 requires identifying and meeting privacy and PII protection requirements under applicable law | |