We are living in the era where the internet has connected the world more than ever before. No doubt that it has brought numerous benefits, but at same the time it has increased the threats to cyber security. As the important information related to any organization is stored online, the cases of security breaches are showing a regular increase.
According to the latest studies, HR department is becoming the hot target of hackers because it holds all the keys to the company's kingdom. HR department has access to all the sensitive data of an organization; along with storing the full bio-data of the employees, it also stores the information about their pay scales, bonuses, social security numbers and information related to the credit cards. It is because of the power of the HR department that it has become the main target of the hackers. As the problem is emerging out more severely, the HR departments and the IT teams are required to implement the strategies for fighting against the cybercrime. And now is the best time to fight against the cyber crime as October is Cyber Security Awareness Month.
Here, we are going to mention some security tips that the HR executives can work on for securing their employees' information.
Terminating the unused privileged accounts
There is no doubt that the internal attacks are bigger threats to an organization's data; so, the HR department requires to take necessary steps to prevent these attacks. The first thing that the HR executives can do is identifying all the privileged accounts and then terminating them which are no longer in use or are associated with the employees who have quit the job. In addition, necessary protocols should be used to track the login activity of every account and alerts should be created for the malicious activities.
Not posting HR email addresses publicly
Normally, the recruitment ads contain the email addresses of the HR executive and this gives the hackers an email that can be spoofed for sending phishing emails to other employees. It also gives the hackers an idea about the format of other email addresses of an organization. So, to remain protected, the HR executive should stop using their personal email addresses in the recruitment ads.
Training the employees on cyber security
There have been the cases where the careless or uninformed employees has caused a security threat to their employers' data. To prevent this from happening the HR executives should train their employees for ensuring the security of sensitive data which can be related to the organization or the particular employee. Employees should be given the training to manage passwords and avoid the criminal activities like phishing. It should also be ensured that they are having the required resources with them.
Keeping all the devices and software up-to-date
As the new advancements ensure more security, the HR executives are required to ensure that their organizations' hardware and software is up to date. There should be a policy to take the equipment offline if is not updated within a certain period of time. They can deploy the management technology to check if everything on their network is up to date.
Moreover, the HR executives can also consult with the cyber security experts to know the most effective ways of preventing cyber attacks by the hackers. But, one thing that they need to keep in mind is that the security will only be ensured when all their employees will understand its importance and will make efforts to retain it. And October is the perfect time to make all your employees and other concerned people know about the need of cyber security. If you are thinking that how to raise awareness then you are recommended to use silicone awareness wristbands as they are much trendy nowadays. The inexpensive, stunning, highly infatuating, non-allergic and durable bands have the ability to catch the attention of the maximum people.
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