Human resources (HR) teams manage some of the most vital and sensitive data in an organization, such as employees’ personal details, financial information, health records, and performance evaluations.
These departments also handle external stakeholders’ files, such as third-party vendor contracts and partnership agreements.
It is critical to secure this information to maintain the business’ integrity and regulatory compliance.
Due to the nature of the information, unfortunately, HR teams are frequently targeted by cyber criminals through various means. Phishing, malware, and social engineering are a few of the many ways these malicious agents try to harm companies.
And the consequences of a hack or scam are severe. For instance, leaked payroll data could result in identity theft or fraud. Unauthorized access to candidate information might violate data protection laws.
This makes brands vulnerable to legal disputes, employee disengagement, reputation damage, and investor distrust.
Therefore, HR teams must develop resilience against any data breach attempt to protect the stakeholders and the organization.
In this article, let’s look at five practical cybersecurity solutions to help HR teams protect their data, workflows, and company.
1. Implement Role-Based Access Controls
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a security method that limits data access based on the responsibilities of an HR team member.
The solution ensures only access to information and tools that they need to perform their job functions instead of giving blanket permissions.
This approach protects the organization from different kinds of cyber attacks, such as phishing, insider threats, privilege escalation, and data breach. Basically, the security measure reduces data exposure, minimizing the chances of a hack.
Even if an account is hacked, the malicious agent won’t gain access to all of the company’s systems, workflows, and cloud drives. The limited attack surface contains the damage to the affected accounts.
Additionally, it prevents potential internal misuse. For instance, if an HR assistant is tasked with scheduling performance review interviews, they can only access the employees’ calendars, not their salary records.
This is crucial for ensuring that the right eyes see the right information.
RBAC can boost productivity too. When HR team members have too much information, it can clutter their workflows and cause distraction. With only the necessary details available, the focus is more likely to remain on the task at hand.
Organizations can implement RBAC effectively by:
- Defining roles and job functions within the HR team effectively and categorizing access levels
- Using the principle of least privilege, where only the minimum required access is granted by default
- Reviewing and updating permissions as employees change roles or leave the business
2. Use Compliant Tools Only
Each software solution used by the HR department should comply with the latest data protection and privacy laws. The platform must adhere to global regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2 attestation.
It is a good practice to check regional and industry-specific laws before subscribing to various HR tools.
Compliant software solutions come with built-in security features like encryption, audit logs, access controls, and data residency options. They help HR teams maintain secure workflows while staying compliant with legal requirements.
Whether it is a recruitment intelligence platform or an employee engagement solution, the relevant tools should adhere to the applicable regulations.
On the other hand, non-compliant tools expose HR systems to data leaks and regulatory violations. These solutions, as they lack proper security features, make it easier for attackers to intercept or steal data.
Consider an applicant tracking system (ATS) that fails to comply with SOC 2 requirements. This means sensitive applicant data, such as resumes, interview notes, and background checks, won’t be encrypted during transmission and storage.
Consequently, it will be easier for cyber criminals to break into the database and contaminate or steal the information. Apart from compromising the hiring process, it can also lead to legal disputes.
The first step is to audit the current HR tech stack. Check for various labels and contact the vendor if necessary. Most SaaS software companies would be happy to share security documentation like whitepapers or third-party audit reports.
Replace the tools that don’t meet the compliance standards. Collaborate with internal teams and external stakeholders to simplify the transition. Explain the reason behind the change in HR tech stack to minimize change resistance.
3. Perform Routine Security Audits
Security audits review an HR department’s IT infrastructure, applications, and tool usage policies to identify potential vulnerabilities. These reviews should be conducted at regular intervals to validate the effectiveness of existing security measures and bolster them further.
HR teams unknowingly expose themselves through oversights, such as outdated software, improper access controls, or shadow IT usage (leveraging unapproved apps or services for tasks).
The aforementioned habits may seem harmless, and they are for the most part, but can introduce threats into the systems.
Consider an HR professional using their business laptop to access their personal email and download unknown files. This could infect their device with a Trojan or malware, resulting in a data breach.
These practices can easily come to the surface through routine security audits, along with technical misconfigurations, such as disabled multi-factor authentication (MFA), and workflow vulnerabilities, such as giving admin privileges to external stakeholders.
HR teams can run routine security audits by following these steps:
- Identify the areas of analysis in terms of tools, process, and personnel
- Deploy vulnerability scanners and log analyzers to quickly find anomalies
- Simulate breaches to test the resilience of the current HR workflow
- Collaborate with cybersecurity experts to implement effective solutions and workarounds for identified issues
Additionally, the entire organization should be informed beforehand about the audit to prevent operational disruptions. It can be beneficial to pause critical business functions for the time being.
4. Develop and Test Incident Response Plans
An Incident Response Plan (IRP) is an actionable strategy to detect, contain, tackle, and recover from HR security breaches or cyber attacks. In simpler terms, it tells the HR team members what to do in the event of a breach to restore normalcy.
Keep in mind that a well-constructed IRP is meant to reduce or limit the impact of data breaches and cyber attacks rather than prevent them from happening.
Let’s say an HR team fell victim to a phishing email trick and shared the employee database with all the details of the workforce. With each passing moment, the hackers will gain more and more access to data.
First, it could be payroll information, and then it could be health records.
An IRP can offer steps, such as revoking access to the affected accounts, notifying the IT managers, and updating the employees about the extent of the breach. This will
One of the most crucial functions of an IRP is documenting the incident, including the recovery steps for further analysis and legal review.
While creating an IRP, HR teams should:
- Define who does what during a breach, from terminating the affected accounts to informing the IT team
- Convert the IRP into a crisp, actionable checklist to ensure the professionals can move with agility
- Test the plan through simulations and tabletop exercises to keep it effective over time and strengthen overall data resilience.
5. Educate HR Staff Regularly
The digital world constantly sees new threats. Attackers come up with novel methods to hack into HR systems and exploit vulnerabilities. Businesses and enterprises must stay updated about such techniques to protect themselves.
Therefore, it is pivotal to ensure the HR professionals stay abreast of the latest online threats to take preventive steps and be ready to tackle them if necessary.
Education offers security tips to help spot phishing emails, use strong passwords, handle data responsibly, and understand the importance of secure tools. It also creates awareness of cybercriminals’ social engineering tactics that manipulate employees into sharing confidential information.
For instance, if a trained HR coordinator receives an urgent email from a fake executive requesting W-2 forms, they can immediately spot the fallacies. Odd sender address, unverified request, and improper protocol.
This will not only prevent the breach but also assist IT teams and law enforcement in catching the culprit.
While establishing comprehensive cybersecurity training and education programs for HR teams, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Make the program mandatory for all employees, especially the new hires
- Cover key topics, such as phishing, password hygiene, data handling, and compliance basics
- Host workshops and live interactive sessions periodically to ensure organizational readiness
- Collect feedback from the human resource professionals to help enhance the educational program
Wrapping Up
Human resources teams handle deeply personal information. When that data gets compromised, the organization has to deal with damaged stakeholder trust, lawsuits, and disrupted operations.
As threats grow more sophisticated, HR teams must prepare themselves to fight against cyberattacks.
First, it is crucial to establish role-based access controls, built on the principle of least privilege.
Then, the entire business should only use compliant tools to establish robust and resilient workflows from the ground up.
Performing regular security audits is essential for spotting vulnerabilities in HR processes, tools, and practices. Additionally, the team must develop incident response plans to deal with breaches and attacks effectively.
Finally, the company should provide necessary resources, such as educational content and training sessions, to empower the HR professionals to fight against online threats.
Guest writer
