Investigating Insider Threats in Multinational Banks

How immutable email logging strengthens insider threat investigations across multinational banking operations.

Introduction

Insider threats—malicious or negligent actions by employees—pose one of the most significant risks to multinational banks. Whether leaking confidential data, manipulating financial systems, or colluding with external actors, insiders can evade detection through legitimate access. Amid the complexity of global operations and stringent regulatory expectations, capturing comprehensive, immutable email logs becomes an essential defensive mechanism.

Immutable logging—where once-recorded data cannot be altered—enables banks to trace the path of suspicious email activity with certainty. When combined with advanced journaling solutions, such as Creodata's Mail Journaling SaaS, institutions gain timely access to forensic-grade evidence that is both secure and compliant.

What Is Immutable Logging?

Immutable logging refers to the practice of recording events here, email activity—with cryptographic or structural safeguards that render logs tamper-proof. This ensures reliability and integrity, vital during investigations or legal audits.

A robust immutable logging mechanism often involves:

• Timestamping each log entry
• Embedding sequence numbers or chains
• Creating cryptographic hashes to detect tampering

Such logs establish an inalterable chain of custody, safeguarding authenticity even in high-stakes investigations.

Importance in Investigating Insider Threats

In multinational banking, email is a primary communication channel. Tracking anomalies—like unauthorized data exfiltration, suspicious attachments, or contact with blacklisted domains—requires a clear, unmodifiable record, especially when actors may attempt to cover their tracks.

Immutable email logs offer several investigative advantages:

1. Reliability of Evidence

Investigators can trust that archived records reflect original content, including metadata like time, sender, recipients, and path—crucial in court or regulatory reviews.

2. Detection of Covert Activities

Logs capturing Bcc recipients, forwards, and attachments help uncover hidden communication threads. Missing metadata can imply intentional concealment.

3. Audit Trail Integrity

Every captured email builds a sequence that reinforces the integrity of the logs. Any gap is proof of suspicious interference.

4. Rapid Response & E-Discovery

Immutable archival solutions support fast search, retrieval, and e-Discovery—streamlining investigations and regulatory reporting.

Creodata's Mail Journaling SaaS & Immutable Logging

Creodata's Mail Journaling SaaS for Microsoft 365 is a cloud-native, Azure-based solution that provides seamless, secure journaling with high availability and minimal maintenance.

Key Advantages:

• Comprehensive Capture & Archival - Automatically archives all Microsoft 365 emails—ensuring no communication is omitted or modified
• Immutable and Searchable Retention - While Creodata emphasizes secure email capture, the nature of journaling inherently supports immutable retention—users cannot alter journaled emails, preserving integrity
• Rapid Deployment - Deploy directly from the Azure Marketplace in minutes, with zero maintenance burden
• Advanced Search and Retrieval - Full-text search and filters support swift forensic investigations

Advantages Table: Immutable Logging via Creodata

Use Case Walk-Through: Investigating an Insider Threat

Scenario:

A compliance officer receives an alert: an insider may have emailed sensitive financial models to an external competitor. The officer needs irrefutable proof of email transmissions and potential recipients, including concealed Bcc fields, while ensuring the data is admissible and untampered.

Investigation Steps Using Immutable Logging:

1. Access Creodata's Portal & Query by Indicators - The officer searches for the suspect's email address, date range, or file attachments using full-text search capabilities

2. Retrieve Immutable Records - The journaled emails—with metadata intact—are stored immutably. Any attempt to alter them would break their cryptographic integrity

3. Analyze Recipients & Content - Bcc and distribution lists are preserved, helping uncover hidden recipients or illicit collaboration

4. Trace Timelines and Patterns - Timestamped, sequenced logs reveal patterns of suspicious behavior—like late-night transfers or multiple forwards

5. Extract & Export Evidence - Emails can be extracted in their original form for audit, legal, or law enforcement use

6. Document Audit Trail - Because the logs are immutable and system-controlled, the chain of custody remains intact for future review or court evidence

Best Practices for Compliance Officers & Auditors

To maximize the value of immutable logs:

• Define Clear Journaling Rules - Ensure journaling includes all internal, external, and distribution-list communications to avoid gaps
• Confirm Immutable Storage Policies - Verify that journal archives are write-once or protected against editing at both application and storage layers
• Monitor Access & Tampering Alerts - Audit access logs to the archival system to detect unusual or unauthorized retrievals
• Train Investigative Teams - Ensure teams know how to use Creodata's search tools to efficiently query by sender, time, keywords, attachments, or recipients
• Maintain Retention & Legal Hold Compliance - Coordinate logs with data retention policies and legal holds during investigations
• Integrate with Incident Response Plans - Build workflows for using journal logs during suspected insider threat investigations, including escalation paths and documentation templates
• Regularly Test Log Integrity - Periodically verify hashes or metadata to ensure logs remain unaltered over time

Target Audience

This article is intended for:

• Compliance Officers – Entrusted with ensuring adherence to internal and regulatory standards, especially around sensitive employee conduct
• Internal & External Auditors – Tasked with investigating discrepancies, misconduct, or breaches of policy and law
• Security and Risk Managers – Focused on identifying, preventing, and mitigating insider threats within the bank's communication channels
• Incident Response Teams – Responsible for investigating and responding to suspicious behavior or data breaches

Summary & Conclusion

In the high-stakes arena of multinational banking, insider threats pose severe reputational, regulatory, and financial risks. Investigators require concrete, unalterable proof of communications—and immutable email logging is a foundational tool.

Creodata's Mail Journaling SaaS delivers this capability by capturing and preserving every Microsoft 365 email in a secure, Azure-hosted archive. It combines immutable capture, searchability, regulatory compliance, and ease of deployment—all critical for investigating potential insider misconduct.

When paired with structured investigative workflows and compliance oversight, this technological solution empowers Compliance Officers, Auditors, Security Teams, and Incident Responders to uncover, prove, and prevent insider risks with clarity and confidence.

For more information visit: https://www.creodata.com/products/mail-journaling/