Businesses In Calgary Cannot Let Disgruntled Employees Wreak Havoc

One of the best feelings you can have is knowing that your entire workforce has healthy cybersecurity habits. Today, businesses and organizations in Calgary know all too well that employees and their security training and education play a crucial role in the safety of valuable assets.

However, if cybersecurity starts with employees, employees are likely aware of the power they have to turn an entire organization upside down. Organizations are aware that human errors and negligence can jeopardize the security of sensitive and confidential assets. It is not difficult for employees to fall victim to phishing attacks or to adopt poor password practices, both of which can provide an entryway for cybercriminals to steal sensitive and confidential data.

Fortunately, there are steps organizations can take to mitigate these risks and more. Organizations that implement practices mitigating these risks will make it difficult for bad actors to infiltrate systems. However, your organization can have the latest and advanced solutions as part of your cybersecurity strategy, but there is only so much you can do to protect your operations against an employee who wants to wreak havoc on the organization. A hard hit to the head comes no more painful than learning that a disgruntled employee was responsible for a cyberattack on your organization.

Typically, many organizations focus more on external cyber threats and attacks and less on internal threats and attacks. Bad actors who once had access to sensitive data, admin privileges, intellectual property, software, etc. can cripple an organization. Former employees who had admin privileges can easily abuse their privileges to wreak havoc while knowing what actions they need to take to hide their tracks.

One Disgruntled Employee Can Destroy Your Organization

No business or organization wants to think that a former employee will carry out a cyberattack, but this has become a growing concern. A cyberattack planned and carried out by a former employee needs to be considered by every organization, and every organization needs to have strategies in place in the event it becomes a reality. Internal cyberattacks are real, and there is a name for the former employee who becomes a malicious actor. These employees are often called a disgruntled employee.

As any business and organization know, not all employees will part ways on friendly terms. Some leave abruptly, and they leave with an axe to grind. One of the things that makes it worse for an organization is that these same employees have these ill feelings before they plan to leave and may act out before they decide to leave.

Before an employee leaves the organization, that employee can jeopardize your organization’s valuable assets after leaving or before leaving. A disgruntled employee can also disclose sensitive information, offer intellectual property or trade secrets, leave your organization open to a ransomware attack or data breach, or install a virus on the organization’s devices.

Cybersecurity has to be addressed very early in the process, and one of the best ways to incorporate cybersecurity best practices into your organization is by adding them to your onboarding process. When you welcome new employees, you are giving them access to sensitive and confidential data, so you must do your best to educate them on how to make use of your best practices.

Offboarding Is Not a Waste of Time When It Comes to Cybersecurity

Former employees have several reasons for taking action against a former employer, including financial gain and bitterness. Neither reason should be neglected or overlooked as a motive for a former employee. To prevent these insider threats, a thorough offboarding process is crucial. How can you keep a disgruntled employee from sabotaging your business?

Disable Accounts and Access Privileges

As soon as an employee leaves the company, it is important to let them go completely. It is in your organization’s best interest to cut off all digital ties and disable any active accounts the employee was using. You will never know when your organization’s sensitive data could be at risk. You can mitigate these risks by revoking access to your network, Google Drive, Dropbox, and other cloud-based technologies and solutions.

Retrieve Devices

It is important to have an inventory of the equipment and devices that all employees have been given, and this includes laptops, phones, tablets, cables, peripherals, and more. Employees should return any equipment that was issued to them during the onboarding process. Employees should also be requested to return backup devices like flash drives and external hard drives. Many data breaches occur because devices have been misplaced or stolen, so it is important to take actions that will mitigate this risk by retrieving all devices.

Monitoring

Monitoring user behaviour and activities are critical to ensuring data security. This is especially important in today’s digital era, where many organizations are implementing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies. Network monitoring tools can scan for suspicious activities such as multiple failed login attempts, data tampering, file deletion, etc.

Control Access and Admin Privileges

Does every employee need admin privileges or access to sensitive contact and billing information? The answer: No. It is important that you closely monitor the privileges of your employees and their access to information, and adjust privileges as necessary. You can also prevent employees from having access to data that has no relation to their daily responsibilities. Not everyone needs to have admin access. Admin privileges should only be granted to a select group of employees.

Implement Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions

Another viable solution to protecting your data from disgruntled employees is implementing backup and disaster recovery solutions. We are not talking about storing your files on a flash drive that you will hide somewhere in your office. We are talking about real backups. When you implement a holistic backup and disaster recovery solution, you will protect your organization against external and internal threats. If a disgruntled employee does delete confidential information, you can seamlessly restore data and avoid costly downtime, data loss, and damage to your reputation.

Don’t Call Any Other IT Team In Calgary: We’re The Best At Protecting Organizations From External and Internal Threats

It is important that organizations need to take precautionary steps when employees leave, especially when that employee is disgruntled and leaves abruptly. Putting best practices into place will help keep those employees out for good. Learn how Pure I.T. can implement solutions and strategies customized to your Calgary organization’s unique requirements by scheduling a consultation with us today.