We recently read a very illuminating post on HR cybercrime at BNA.com and we agree wholeheartedly with the reporting presented there. With all the hacks happening lately in the political realm, and of course celebrities personal information constantly being stolen, the human resources department needs to be very wary of that happening to us as well.
Why, you might ask? Well the HR department has all of the personal info of all of the employees. Social security, salary, home addresses, dependents and more. Any piece of this information being hacked or stolen would be devastating for employers and employees alike.
Hackers are even targeting the onboarding process, potentially registering themselves as a new hire and burying their information deep within the system of a large company, going unnoticed. They might even pose as HR personnel themselves, gaining access to everyone’s files. It is a scary thought!
HR departments need to be extremely diligent in protecting themselves against such hacks. Strong cyber security is absolutely an area that should be invested in by management – for every department, frankly.
Employees should be educated in all the latest phishing scams, so they do not click on dangerous emails that bypass basic spam filters. Data should only be accessible to those who NEED it, so proper permissions need to be awarded, with extra caution placed. Checking in with your HRIS vendor is critical to understanding the system and its capabilities.
If your firm is too small to have an IT department in house, choose a partner that can step in and handle these issues for you.
The article finishes saying the best cyber defense is mostly common sense – don’t click on anything sketchy, and have a healthy sense of skepticism always. Educate your staff properly and you’re halfway there.