In the early era of computer security intruders, the majority of intruders came from which source?

• A. External hackers
• B. Insiders
• C. Government agencies
• D. Automated scripts

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is insider threat—the risk that comes from people who already have legitimate access. In the early days of computing, systems were centralized and tightly controlled by staff, with networks being small or non-existent. Those inside the organization already knew the system, had the credentials, and understood the data flows, so abusing privileges or bypassing controls was easier than breaking in from outside. Monitoring and auditing were rudimentary, making it harder to detect misuse by someone trusted to operate the system. External attackers and automated tools simply didn’t have the same access or breadth of opportunity in that era, so the source of intrusions most often came from insiders—programmers, operators, or other staff misusing their authorized access.