The Norwegian state increasingly seeks to pursue its national security interests through private sector regulation and imposition of security compliance obligations. But does security compliance in the private sector work as regulators intend? What are its possibilities and limitations? The hypothesis of the INSIDER project, grounded in earlier research on private sector compliance and intelligence by the project team (Ben Jaffel & Larsson, 2022; Kuldova, 2022; Kuldova et al., 2024), is that the state’s reliance on compliance-driven regulatory solutions could threaten national security, pose new risks, have unintended consequences, at worst contribute to intelligence failure and undermine the ambitions behind total defense. It is therefore imperative to research, analyse, and evaluate the inherent risks in security compliance through independent academic research. The INSIDER project, led by Tereza Østbø Kuldova, brings together an international team of experts on national security, Norwegian total defence, privatization of intelligence, compliance and security management, artificial intelligence, and law, to critically evaluate insider threat programs and security compliance in the current geopolitical and regulatory context. INSIDER will map and analyse the fundamental tensions between national security interests and private sector profit motive, often disavowed by policymakers. INSIDER zooms in on the case of insider threat management programs and (cyber)security compliance products on the market sold to Norwegian private sector operators of critical infrastructure and corporations operating in Norway.