How To Prevent a Former Employee From Becoming a Security Risk
A few years ago, at a social event, we heard a guy brag about how he used the resources of his former company to land a major client. He believed he had learned as much as he could and had repaid the company for the training they had given him.
When he left, he realized he still had access to some of the organization's proprietary information. He decided to use it to become a competitor and land that client.
Here is an instance where someone left the company of his own free will, without ill will, yet he continued to illegally use the organization's resources. So we can only imagine what a disgruntled former employee might do.
When it comes to former employee security risk, a majority of that stems from improper employee offboarding. A business puts itself at significant risk when it fails to remove a former employee from its network appropriately.
A survey of 1,008 employees by Beyond Identity found that 1 in 4 ex-employees still had access to their employers' files. Plus, in 2020, 20% of companies reported data breaches from disgruntled former employees.
So, what can you do to prevent a former employee from becoming a security risk?
The following list may seem simple, but the mistakes are often relatively easy to make but open up an opportunity for someone to steal information.
1. Observe the Behavior of Employees Post-Resignation
One of the earliest things you can do to prevent a former employee from becoming a security risk is to be proactive and observe their behavior post-resignation. Disgruntled people who wish to cause harm will often exhibit signs that something is amiss.
You should be on the lookout for:
- Employees who suddenly become withdrawn or angry
- Current employees talking about sensitive topics in the presence of a former employee
- Former employees who leave their company-issued equipment at their desks or fail to return it as requested
- Former employees who try to continue using access codes or badges after they have left the company
If the former employee damages company property, makes threats or opposes efforts to maintain security, these should raise red flags.
2. Conduct Exit Interviews
Many companies don't conduct exit interviews and those that do only ask why the employee is leaving. While you should still ask those questions, you also need to ask about the company's items in their possession.
You want to ensure they do not take any company devices or information or access any accounts or systems before leaving. You must ensure that your former employees can no longer access company assets or information once they leave.
3. Change Your Passwords
To prevent former employees from accessing proprietary information and systems, you should change all your passwords immediately after an employee leaves. The best approach is to err on the side of caution, even if you have no reason to believe the employee is a security risk.
While changing your passwords, look for other ways former employees might have access to sensitive information and take care of any holes in your company's policies and procedures.
4. Restrict Access
Folders and applications are another way to prevent former employees from accessing important data. One way is to remove them from groups with extended permissions to network resources.
If the employee was a member of multiple groups, you might want to add certain groups back after you've removed them from the ones that grant them too much access. You should also review security groups that give access based on job title and make changes when necessary.
5. Conduct Offboarding Audit
Conduct an offboarding audit when employees resign or are terminated. You should do this within 30 days of the person leaving the company and cover all devices used while you employed them.
The audit should include checking email accounts for any confidential information that might have been downloaded or sent. Check if files have been deleted from shared drives or cloud services.
