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Insider Threat Downtime Cost Estimator

This estimator calculates the downtime cost associated with an insider threat event. It combines operational disruption, affected workforce, productivity loss, delayed or lost revenue, and incident response expense, then applies a partial-productivity factor for work that can continue during the disruption.

The tool is useful for business impact analysis and incident planning because insider events may disable systems, restrict access, or require isolation of affected processes even when the underlying technology remains available. The result represents one defined downtime scenario and should be paired with probability or frequency when estimating annual risk.

Scenario inputs

hours
people
USD
USD
USD
%
Result
—
Estimated insider threat downtime cost
Net productivity loss—
Revenue interruption loss—
Total cost per disruption hour—

1. Enter disruption duration
Use the time during which affected business processes cannot operate normally.

2. Enter affected workforce
Count people whose productive work is materially reduced by the incident or containment action.

3. Use loaded labor cost
Enter wages plus relevant employer costs per person-hour.

4. Add revenue interruption
Estimate permanent revenue loss or economic impairment per disruption hour.

5. Add response expense and retained productivity
Include incremental incident cost, then estimate how much work can continue during the disruption.

Gross Productivity Cost = Duration × Affected Staff × Loaded Hourly Labor Cost

Net Productivity Loss = Gross Productivity Cost × (1 − Productivity Retained)

Total Downtime Cost = Net Productivity Loss + (Duration × Revenue Loss per Hour) + Response Expense

What the result means

The result estimates the financial cost of one insider-related operational disruption under the entered assumptions.

Use loaded labor cost when available, and do not count the same response staff time in both labor loss and response expense.

Given:

  • Disruption duration: 12 hours
  • Affected staff: 45
  • Loaded labor cost: $58 per person-hour
  • Revenue loss: $12,000 per hour
  • Response expense: $38,000
  • Productivity retained: 25%

Calculation:
Gross productivity cost = 12 × 45 × $58 = $31,320
Net productivity loss = $31,320 × 0.75 = $23,490
Revenue loss = 12 × $12,000 = $144,000
Total cost = $23,490 + $144,000 + $38,000 = $205,490

Result: The estimated downtime cost is $205,490.

What does productivity retained mean?

It is the percentage of normal productive value that affected staff can still deliver during the disruption.

Should all employees be counted as affected?

No. Count only staff whose work is materially constrained by the event or response measures.

How do I avoid double counting labor?

If response-team labor is included in the response-expense estimate, do not also count the same hours as lost productivity.

Can revenue loss be zero?

Yes. Some disruptions mainly create labor and response cost without directly reducing revenue.

How is this result converted to annual risk?

Multiply scenario cost by an appropriate annual probability or expected frequency using a separate risk-exposure model.