In this digital age, cybersecurity is becoming a major problem for businesses and corporations. Many of us would think of HR as the last department to be concerned about cyber threats. However, that is not the case, HR management should be as concerned as the other departments.
HR experts are in charge of a lot of confidential corporate information. This contains employee personal information, pay data, and other details that, if disclosed, might do significant harm. As a result, HR professionals are in a great position to protect company data against cyber threats.
Critical Security Aspects for HR to Think About
As new changes were brought about by technology, job coverage of teams including HR has changed. Their duties are now beyond the usual recruitment and staff management. Today, part of their jobs is to make sure that company staff data is protected. So, below are some of the security aspects they should cover.
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1. Determine a Company's Risk Exposure
Recognizing risks is the first step in preventing them. An organizations risk exposure may be determined by completing a risk assessment on a regular basis.
The HR management should be able to identify data that are vulnerable to attacks. In the same manner, this department should also be able to identify effective security measures for the company.
For example, deploying preventive tactics such as launching Blazing SEO residential proxies can be the first step. This kind of tactic helps a company add a layer of protection to their management data. HR would be able to hide the company IP address from possible attackers, therefore, minimizing the risk of compromising employee data.
Another step that can help prevent these attacks is to conduct regular evaluations of deployed security measures. Risk assessments also assist businesses to ensure that cybersecurity in place is not penetrable.
2. Assist with Security Policy
It is critical for businesses to have security policies. Every department, including HR, contributes to the development and implementation of organizational security policies. This guarantees that the company, its clients, and its employees are always protected from various risks.
HRs role in policy development and implementation begins throughout the hiring process. They should do voluntary pre-employment background checks to learn more about their potential recruits.
They must also provide and have workers sign a code of conduct before hiring them. Furthermore, HR must encrypt all employee files and establish standards about employee access. When employees break rules, HR must collaborate with the company's management. They should participate in the investigation and assist in the prosecution of perpetrators.
3. Access Points and Controls
HR teams often forget that even insiders can compromise data. However, sensitive data can be protected in a variety of ways. One of them is implementing various access restrictions for this information. Access controls are necessary for a strong data management plan to guarantee safekeeping.
The human resources department may assist a company in setting up and implementing access restrictions. There can be different levels of access depending on the employee position. For example, only those that are considered executives can access financial information. While only the HR head can access full disclosure of all employee data. These kinds of restrictions ensure company details will not be used for any malicious purpose.
This can be done through an already existing cybersecurity measure which is the proxy. Proxies do not only help in masking your IP address but also control what the members of the network can see and manipulate.
4. Employees Should Be Taught About Cybersecurity
A constant training procedure is required for efficient information security. Every company should teach its personnel on information security on a regular basis.
Employees will identify cybersecurity as a routine business activity and will follow the company's best practices as a result of this. Employee phishing training is a major responsibility of the HR department. They must incorporate security training into new employee orientations.
This involves stressing the dangers to which the company is vulnerable, as well as the staff behaviors that can assist prevent them from occurring. A strong security awareness campaign may aid a company's security. Employees who have never been exposed to data breaches or hacking can learn how to respond responsibly via training.
This helps to prevent or greatly minimize the danger of assaults like phishing.
Every training session should emphasize that a company's cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility. This makes it simple to adopt regulations and even create the above-mentioned security culture.
Role of HR in Eliminating Cyber Attacks
In recent years, the human resources function has grown increasingly important in the management of cyber risk in organizations.
HR is increasingly being asked to assist in identifying and enforcing employee data permissions. Apart from this, they are asked to teach and implement cybersecurity policies and procedures and respond to cyber incidents affecting workers.
The data and security habits of employees are important indicators of a company's overall cybersecurity.
According to Mercers 2020 Global Talent Trends Study, over two-thirds (62%) of executives believe the greatest threat to their organizations cybersecurity is workers inability to follow data security standards, not hackers or vendors.
HR executives must ensure that a cybersecurity workforce framework is in place to support important personnel recruiting, development, and retention.
Its not enough to focus just on recruitment; HR must also guarantee that there are opportunities for training, education, and certification in order to grow and retain employees.
Conclusion
These are some crucial things HR must know that may help a company's cybersecurity. However, this list is far from complete, as HR may do a wide range of tasks. HR, for example, is in charge of monitoring remote workers since they constitute a greater security risk to a firm.
HRs important tasks, such as policy-making, have previously been discussed. HR must keep rules well-documented and ensure that every new recruit is aware of them.
This comprises protocols for reporting threats, effectively responding to them, and so on, in order to protect a company and its data. Security has become too important to ignore in the face of the growing menace of cybercrime.
Furthermore, it has made internet security a role for the entire business, rather than just for information technology security professionals. The information provided above can assist HR professionals in making a good contribution to a company's cybersecurity.
This article was written by Dani Martin, a guest writer at The Human Capital Hub.