Five Effective Ways to Protect your Company Data from Former Employees
The increase in cloud-based information systems and the digitization of data storage have made it important to protect your classified company data during employee transitions. Employee theft can cause your company significant losses, especially if the thief will share important data to your competitors. Here are ways to protect your vital company data from former employees:
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Boost Information Monitoring
To improve the security of your data, you need to improve data monitoring, prioritize information protection, and understand data location. You can also improve your IT data protection practices and know where the majority of your sensitive data is stored. Ensure you know who has access to this data and preserve its integrity. For this, you will need the expertise of IT professionals from Elijah. Your company must have a system in place for tracking strange behavior and keep tabs on who is viewing your data. This will help you avoid breaches in your system and monitor access to certain documents.
Increase Awareness
Data security breaches usually result from a lack of awareness that surrounds privacy and data protection. Studies show that former employees steal company data to launch or improve upon a new career. Their intentions can range from malicious intent to an honest accident. Your company must increase awareness surrounding data protection so your IT team and employees understand the consequences of data theft. Implement the use of stronger passwords, employee training, and increase employee accountability.
Update your Off-Boarding Process
Regulating your termination process can significantly protect your data against theft. As you go through the off-boarding process with a former employee, collect company property like computers and cell phones. Also, you need to disable their work accounts, passwords, and other company privileges. Integrating a structured off-boarding system will keep the integrity of your data intact.
Hire a Data Forensics Specialist
Knowing how easy it is for your previous employees to access sensitive company information can be overwhelming. That is why you must adjust and improve your data security. If you are not sure which aspect of your business’ security may need adjustments, or where to start, you can hire the services of a data forensic specialist.
Enforce the Garden Leave
Garden leave is requiring an employee who has given notice of their resignation to stay away from work during the notice period while still being on the payroll. Depending on the contract, you may want to grant your departing employees this kind of leave. This is quite useful in preventing that employee from joining a competitor and risk stealing your company’s sensitive information and sharing it to the new company.
