From theft and burglary to vandalism and assault, there are a number of different external threats that businesses and their employees face. But what about internal dangers and perils?
When it comes to devising a plan of action for security breaches, several organisations completely forget about the prospect of ‘insider jobs’. This is despite the fact that they’re usually incredibly costly and damaging.
So, how can you prevent security breaches from the inside to ensure your business remains protected from all angles? Here’s five proactive steps you can take.
Carry out background checks on new hires
Preventing security breaches from the inside should start with your recruitment process. No matter the role you’re hiring for, always carry out background checks on new hires to ensure they won’t be a threat to the business.
For certain businesses, such as those that need to hire more hands for seasonal demands, this might seem unnecessary and expensive. However, it’s preferable to suffering from theft or fraud.
Change employee passwords and alarm codes regularly
In order to ensure that customer data and sensitive information remains safe no matter what, you should be getting your employees to change their passwords regularly, ideally every six months. The same goes for alarm and access codes to your business premises, otherwise its security could be compromised.
By making regular password and code changes mandatory, you’ll know that only trusted employees have control over your most valuable assets. This step can also go a long way in educating employees about the importance of internal security.
Make sure you disable access for ex-employees
Staff turnover is something every business experiences, regardless of whether it was the employee’s choice to leave or not. But whenever a member of staff departs your business for pastures new, you must guarantee that any access they have is revoked immediately.
This means taking away property keys or access cards and suspending or deleting email accounts. If they were a senior employee, this would be a good time to change alarm codes too. Most organisations will go through this process during exit interviews and off boarding.
Provide different passwords and codes for different people
One of the main reasons why you should give different people different passwords and codes is because it provides accountability. For example, whenever a security breach takes place, you can look at your records to see who was responsible.
However, if someone outside of your organisation was to somehow gain access or steal a member of staff’s security code or password, you could falsely accuse an innocent individual. For this reason, employees should guard their passwords and codes carefully.
Establish your own circle of trust
Most businesses work extremely hard to establish trust with their customers. After all, this is what several transactions are based upon. But you should also look to establish trust within your own workforce for better security.
Your circle of trust will probably comprise senior members of staff and those who have been with the business for many years. They’ll not only be responsible for the safeguarding of the business but also customer details and data, so choose your team wisely.
