Working in HR involves handling the personal information of a company’s employees. Knowing how to keep such digital data, especially in the age of evolving cybersecurity threats, should be a top priority for HR departments.

Here are 5 things everyone working in HR needs to know about protecting the company’s data.

What Every HR Employee Needs to Know to Protect Sensitive Work Information

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1. Have comprehensive cybersecurity awareness

In order to protect data, HR employees first need to be aware of the various cyber threats to such data. They should know all about the various forms it can take, such as:

  • Phishing;
  • Ransomware; 
  • Malware;
  • Corporate Account Takeovers (CATO)

They should know the signs of these various attacks and be able to identify and counteract them immediately. These threats are also constantly evolving, so they should be up-to-date with the latest cybersecurity news and trends.

2. Organize and classify data

HR handles a lot of data. Classifying them not only helps with organizing it and making it easier to find specific pieces of information, but it also determines the sensitivity of each piece of information.

It’s best to categorize data into levels of sensitivity, such as classifying them as public, internal, confidential, and restricted.

For example, people’s names are of relatively no consequence. 

But your employees’ banking details, Social Security Numbers, and other financial records? Those should be confidential or restricted and protected with stringent measures.

Through data categorization, HR departments can know how to allocate their resources, as well as determine which people get access to which pieces of data.

3. Know data privacy laws by heart

Despite the increasing prevalence of cyber threats, most people are not actually aware of data privacy regulations. For example, in the USA, 72% of people have little to no understanding of the data privacy laws in the country.

If you’re someone working in HR, this is a big no-no. As someone handling people’s private data, it’s your responsibility to know everything about data privacy.

Understanding these regulations doesn’t just ensure people’s data remains secure, but also helps the company avoid any legal issues.

New laws are regularly added and existing ones are often updated too, so it’s best to keep up with any changes. 

4. Employing best digital security practices

Of course, all HR employees (all employees in general, actually) should enact the best practices when it comes to keeping digital data safe.

Things like using strong passwords and 2FA, as well as only using safe, encrypted email and file-sharing services—these should be common sense all throughout the company. 

Companies can also easily get a VPN for multiple users nowadays, so there is no excuse to not implement these cybersecurity measures. 

It really is through these simple ways that a company can prevent data leaks. If a company finds that their employees lack knowledge in this area, then it’s in their best interest to train them.

5. Have an incident response plan

Of course, nothing is foolproof. Cyber threats are constantly evolving. They are getting smarter and harder to detect.

And so, the unfortunate truth is that there is no 100% guaranteed way to avoid data breaches.

In addition to employing the best cybersecurity practices, companies should know what to do in case their data is breached. They should have mechanisms in place to retrieve the data, prevent it from being deleted, and refortify safeguard measures.

HR personnel should be completely aware of the company’s procedures for responding to such incidents.

6. Have an Excellent knowledge about Cyber attacks

HR employee should have a strong knowledge about all types of Cyber attacks. He should be aware about what is the next attack of the hacker and how to prevent the attack of hacker. There are some strong cyber attacks used by the hackers in the past history are listed below:

  • The WannaCry Ransomware attack (2017)
  • The Notpetya Virus (2017)
  • The Equifax Data Breach (2017)
  • The Yahoo Data Breach (2014)
  • Log4J Vulnerability. Date: (2021)
  • Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack. Date (2021)
  • Phishing Attacks
  • SQL injectionsss
  • Trojan horses
  • Drive-by Attacks
  • XSS Attacks

These are the most dangerous cybers attacks used by the professional and un-ethical hackers in the past history and they are still using these methods to rune the businesses and large organizations. The main goal of these hackers is to stole the private information of a company and sell it to the other company on dark web. So! Please always be from clicking any unwanted link to protect your life and business

At the End

Cyber-attacks are an existential threat to a company. Just think about it – a data breach can mean the competitors getting access to company trade secrets. Or, it can land the company in serious legal trouble.

HR personnel therefore have a crucial role to play in protecting such sensitive information! In today’s age, being in HR isn’t just about keeping the peace between quarreling workers or dishing out paychecks.

By remaining knowledgeable and updated about cybersecurity and proactively implementing strict safety protocols, HR departments can protect their company’s most valuable asset: its people.