What mechanism is often used alongside user behaviors to combat insider threats?

Audit trails are a critical mechanism used to monitor user behaviors and activities within an organization, particularly when addressing the challenge of insider threats. By maintaining detailed logs of user actions, audit trails enable organizations to track and analyze behaviors that could indicate malicious intent or policy violations.

The implementation of audit trails helps in identifying unusual or unauthorized actions taken by users. For example, if a user accesses sensitive data that is outside of their typical behavior pattern or is not aligned with their job responsibilities, the audit logs can provide clear evidence of this anomaly. This kind of monitoring is essential for timely intervention and can aid in the investigation process if an insider threat is detected.

In contrast, while virtual private networks, proxy servers, and firewalls play important roles in overall network security, they are primarily focused on securing data transmissions, managing network traffic, and creating barriers against external threats. These tools do not specifically address the behavioral monitoring aspect that audit trails provide, making them less effective in identifying and mitigating insider threats.