IT And HR: Working Together To Keep Employee Data Safe Friday, September 1, 2017

Hello. This is your daily Digitalist insight, brought to you by SAP. Today we’re taking a look at the collaboration between IT and HR to ensure employee data safety. In the past year, 50% of all businesses experienced a ransomware attack. Employee information, followed by financial data, and then customer information, was most at risk. Even more alarming, 48% of the businesses attacked believe an opportunistic hacker – not an organization of professional cyber criminals – committed the crime. In taking a look into employee data breach trends, it seems as if employees are making it easy for hackers. According to the 2016 Verizon Data Breach Investigations report, 63% of data breaches occurred as a result of a weak, default, or stolen password. Other other key issues include sending confidential information to the wrong person, company data being disposed of improperly, lost or stolen devices storing sensitive company data, or misconfigured IT systems. So what are some of the ways a business can protect employee data? Firewalls set up by IT are not enough. The HR and IT department need to collaborate and educate employees on how to keep data safe, monitor employee activity to minimize risk, and track threats and trends through predictive analytics. The first step the HR and IT can take to promote cyber security, is educating employees on password practices. By installing or recommending password management software you will be taking the biggest step in protecting against a breach. Second, you should prohibit wifi usage on unsecure networks. Consider equipping employees who travel or work from home with secured mobile hotspot devices they can use instead. In addition, employees should never leave their devices unattended in public places; hackers can equip devices with software that can log keystrokes and steal passwords. Third, deploy software that can remotely wipe lost or stolen devices, and educate Employees to report a lost or stolen devices immediately. Lastly, you should employ the latest predictive analytics. Network monitoring helps identify breaches, but unfortunately, most technology today spots attacks only after they occur. Thanks to advances in machine learning though, new predictive analytics can recognize anomalies in network traffic to detect a threat as it occurs. This technology is still in its early stages, but experts say cyber security will rely on predictive analytics in the near future. In summary, good cybersecurity consists of having the right technology and training of employees to keep data and devices secure. And by working together, HR and IT can help keep the workplace safe. That’s today’s briefing. For more business insights on the latest technology and trends, visit www.Digitalistmag.com from SAP.