An employee resignation is not a lunch send-off and the transfer of responsibilities. At the end of the service, another essential factor often neglected is protecting business information. Where the termination of employment is disfavored, or an employee quits his job on his own, an employer must ensure security breaches, data theft, or any unauthorized access to company information.
This blog will outline when and how to conduct a security risk assessment when a person is quitting your company and what to do about it.
1. Lack of Control Over Systems and Data
Management must withdraw a departing employee’s access from all systems and applications whenever an employee exists to avoid infringement. As a result, delaying that employee’s access withdrawal could harm the business.
Risk Indicators:
- Departing employees can continue accessing their accounts or username/email addresses and misuse them.
- Many companies keep using the same passwords even after a departing employee leaves an organization, thus becoming a security threat.
- A prevalent system appears when an organization manages access across numerous systems.
What to Do:
Offboarding checklist: You should maintain an appropriate offboarding checklist in the organization. The checklist must include deletions from login access, changing passwords, and forbidding all access to applications, folders, or storage spaces for which the employee worked.
2. Information on end-user devices:
Most employees possess the company’s computers, laptops, mobile phones, or hard drives with sensitive information about the company. When these employees leave, the devices may still contain sensitive company data and can be misused.
Risk Indicators:
- There is a method of data storage on personal devices but no policy for using them.
- The mobile device management plan includes devices that are inaccessible remotely.
- The human resource department must know which system and application a leaving employee uses before leaving.
What To Do:
Develop a standard own-device policy regarding returning or securely deleting information from the device. Select a Mobile Device Management (MDM) application that removes company information from a business employee’s device.
3. People Allowed to Manage Sensitive Information
Senior managers or employees in the organizational departments at the company would keep this sensitive information confidential. They will most likely take the info out without adequate security when they leave the company.
Risk Indicators:
- No tracking mechanism is available for those people who access this sensitive information.
- The company has a considerable number of employees, including former and current employees, but these employees increase the threat if they have access to accounting data, customer lists, or other sensitive information.
- They discovered that hardly any organizations had non-disclosure agreements or data protection clauses in their employment contracts.
What to do:
Ensure all employees have had Non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements to reduce considerable data leakage. During the final meeting, they should be sternly cautioned that all Legal clauses related to company data are binding on the company.
4. Communication or /and Contact with the Clients from Outside
Some ex-employees could have contacts with the company’s clients, suppliers, or other business associates. For example, they may receive contacts and ideas and misuse them when dealing with another company with similar products.
Risk Indicators:
- The employee is to interact with customers or establish contact with vendors.
- The employee will receive lists of customers, contracts, and other intellectual belongings through them.
What to Do:
Share the change in employment status of an individual employee with the clients and partners well in advance of when that employee stops working for the organization. Synchronize all contacts and contact data so an unauthorized person cannot continue to call on behalf of the company.
5. Process Offboarding lacks central
Process Offboarding lacks central control and few structures around it, and yet it hasn’t been a severe point of focus for improvement. Another major threat is when organizations require standard procedures for offboarding employees out of work. It may result in essential surveillance, making it impossible for persons to withdraw access to systems or forget to monitor the actual access, such as keycards or codes.
Risk Indicators:
- The organization had several issues that are worth listing down as follows;
- Failure to return physical keys, security access, or other company property or assets.
- Employees are still not removed from the organizational directories.
What to do:
Develop an offboarding process that each department must follow. It should include accessing prohibited systems, recovering company property, and updating all information in the systems used by HR and IT.
6. Insensitive and Biassed Employee Training Centers
At other times, employees would remove details from an organization that might compromise security by destroying documents or omitting deactivating accounts. This oversight can heighten the chance of a user or organization carrying out specific actions that ignore some safety measures while remaining unaware of them. To mitigate these risks, investing in Cyber Security Services Long Island can provide the necessary expertise and resources to enhance security protocols and ensure that all sensitive information is properly managed.
Risk Indicators:
- Employees leaving an organization must learn about the security responsibilities affecting data.
- Management has yet to provide training to the HR department on managing such information.
What to do:
Change security awareness and prepare them as part of their orientation and as a refresher program. A day before leaving, remind them about security, especially data security by the company.
7. Malicious Actions by Employees on Their Way Out
Employees often leave their current companies intending to join a new one. Unhappy employees could want to misalign the system, swipe from the employer, and damage the company’s image.
Risk Indicators:
- A sudden intention to download important information or attempt to penetrate systems beyond the organization’s scope is harmful. Trying to print files or transfer data before a resignation notice is also detrimental.
- It occurs when someone feels frustrated or withdraws just before leaving.
What to do:
Monitor the employee’s activity a few weeks before the resignation. Install Data Loss Prevention (DLP) systems to recognize if the device restricts actions like downloading large files and then decide whether he should have access to sensitive information.
To wrap up, turnover is moderate; the risk is not. Here’s how to avoid security risks when an employee quits. Therefore, it’s essential to develop an appropriate procedure for termination, review departing employees’ access to critical systems, and explain to the employee and job applicant the risks of taking their data with them when leaving the company. Safety should be one of the top considerations in offboarding management so that your company’s data is not leaked or stolen.
By following these tips, your business will define its potential for exposed vulnerabilities when employees disengage from work and keep your business secure and faithful.