Media & Press Experts Partner
Policy Advisor Give
Policy Advisor Partner
Research Library › WP-02
WP-02 · Research Report

Insider Threat Assessment Framework for Island Organizations

White Paper Series · Island Security Policy Institute · 2026

Warren Pulley — Founder & Executive Director, ISPI
Author profile · ORCID: 0009-0007-8694-0149 · SSRN · Wikidata Q139822665
Published 2026
TL;DR — Key Finding

Standard insider threat programs assume large organizations with dedicated program managers and institutional distance between assessors and subjects. Island organizations have neither. This framework recalibrates BTAM standards for small-workforce, high-social-density island environments.

↓ Download Full Paper (PDF) Free · No registration · CC BY 4.0

Abstract

Provides an island-specific behavioral threat assessment and management framework addressing the structural conditions — workforce irreplaceability, social density, and reporting cost barriers — that make continental insider threat programs ineffective in island environments. This research is produced under the ISPI Research Methodology Guide v4.0 — five pillars: government agency sources, regional organizations, OSINT/Bellingcat two-source verification, the ISPI Global Expert Panel of 78 members across 14 disciplines, and AI synthesis under practitioner review. All ISPI research is free under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Key Findings

01

A 22-person Pacific Island customs agency cannot implement segregated access administration by design — workforce size makes it structurally impossible

02

Social cost of reporting in island communities is quantifiably higher than continental environments — the reporting mechanism must account for this

03

Pacific drug trafficking surge (17 tonnes seized 2026 vs 4.6 tonnes all of 2025) validates the insider threat pathway documented in this framework

SIDS Global Bridge — Samoa Pathway Application

Pacific Island border agencies documented by the Pacific Transnational Crime Summit (Fiji, May 2026) as increasingly exploited by organized crime through professional facilitators and trusted insiders — the exact threat vector this framework addresses.

Related Research

WP-01 — Island-State Security Foundations →CM-07 — Insider Threat in Hospitality Industry →CM-08 — BTAM Cultural Calibration →
Citation

Pulley, Warren. "Insider Threat Assessment Framework for Island Organizations." Island Security Policy Institute, 2026. https://ispiglobal.com/papers-landing/wp02-insider-threat-framework.html

↓ Download WP-02 — Full Paper (PDF) Free · No registration · CC BY 4.0
← Return to Full Research Library