How safe is your data after an employee leaves? Do you have protocols in place to prevent important information from walking out the door at your business? If not, you could have a security vulnerability that is too often overlooked by HR and other members of management which could put you, and your data at risk. There was a saying at Apple Steve Jobs once shared at a D5 Computer Conference, "Isn't it funny a ship that leaks from the top? " Only in this instance the then Apple CEO and founder was referring to himself, as he'd often brag to the competition about all the great things they were working on. Suffice it to say, over the years there have been procedures developed, tested, and hardened to help protect your companies data when an employee departs.
In a perfect world, employee's get hired and always leave on good terms. They happily relinquish over all of their company devices, and tell HR about all of the accounts and data they have access to. The majority of the time we can even say this is the norm. However we know this isn't a perfect world; Employee's have disagreements, layoffs occur, and even the ones who do depart on good terms can just forget to mention what they still have access too.
When an employee departs, it's important to have procedures in place to make sure that they don't walk out the door with information that could put you or your data at risk. What could happen when these procedures aren't in place could spell calamity for you and your business. Depending on the level of access the employee has they might still have access to important company data even after they've left. If the now ex-employee was able to connect to the company network remotely, that could leave a giant security hole putting said network at risk. Even if the employee left on the absolute best conditions, other malicious users can take advantage of that persons account and gain unauthorized access to files and information you would otherwise not want getting out.
Expert's like Robby Hill, CEO of HillSouth believe a layered security approach is best when dealing with closing security gaps following an employee departure. There are many facets to accomplishing this, but it becomes easier when combining all the caveats of employee termination into a single Standard Operating Procedure that can be followed thoroughly.
It's important to take advantage of tools such as Sweetproccess to better track, and identify what a departing employee may have had access to. You can also view their level of security with the company, and what devices they may have been given, or granted access to. Using a single strong password for your employee's is also a good way to revoke their access upon their departure. Simply changing the password will prevent access to any accounts they were once connected to. Streamlining the process in both hiring, and terminating employment by following these steps is a proven way to save time, overhead costs, and enforce security around your company's important data.
At Natural Networks, we have worked for over 20 years to develop our own procedures for improving security, and managing data for thousands of customers nationwide! We pride ourselves on our techniques and strategies for ensuring your data is safe, and never exposed to the uncertainties we face on a day to day bases. If you have questions or concerns about your data, give us a call today!
