Is Your HR Software Provider Keeping Employee Data Safe?

The sudden rise of cloud-based Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is making it easier for corporations around the world to tackle the information of the employees, working with them. An HRIS solution allows users to login from any available device. This ultimately is a reason for concern as it opens a window for a number of security breaches. Maintaining secure HR software has become a necessity now.

If you can’t secure the information of your employees, then it will welcome some unnecessary inquiries. If you aim to add unknown IP address access, then there is a chance that your system will be susceptible to a number of outside hackers as well as any deceitful employee who is well versed in computers and technology. It must be noted that information breaches and identity theft are not only an outside threat but an inside threat as well that needs to be addressed.

Any system is most vulnerable to breach and hacks and other security concerns, mainly during the implementation phases. It is always advised that the employers should work in close interaction with vendors and managers to make sure that a thorough security is maintained all throughout the phases of implementation as the system becomes more regular in its approach.

So in order to fulfill the security necessities, the HR software should at least have these minimum requirements. It is necessary as it ensures that the data will be safe.

• Check the vendor security measures

Before making the final decision on selecting the HRIS for your company, make sure that you understand what the vendor is offering regarding securing the data of the company. It is of no doubt that all vendors take appropriate precautions to keep the data of a company safe, but look for the quality of the security measures as that is the one that varies. If you don’t have anyone in the company who is an expert in this field, then it is highly advised that you hire a consultant who will be able to give a worthy opinion on the same. The consultant will be an ideal body to give you a genuine feedback on whether the security measures are up to the mark or not.

• Limit the access to the information

While the implementation process is still in its configuration stage, the manager and the employees must take precautions in setting the system to a limited control and access to information. Employees of the company should have access to their information only and accessing their information for changes and other purposes should require appropriate authorization. The most critical information must be made accessible to only a handful of managers or as decided by the elite decision makers of the company. A limit should be designed based on the relevancy of the job. Put strict control on an employee’s power to access the data.

• A Background Check
  

Equip your system with a software that will be able to do a background check of an employee before he/she is being hired. This is not that hard a job to do. A background check will make sure that the employee doesn’t have any criminal record or cases of a misdemeanor in his/her previous office.

• Detailed access log
  

A software that will record or log all the access made from any part of the office, into the main frame or the administrator’s computer is always preferred. In this way, you will be able to check who has accessed or tried to access the data as the hr software will record the IP address and the user\name of the that person.

• Data audit or data updating
  

Use Software that will update the data automatically based on client configuration choices, enabling Insert, update and delete action to be recorded, including detail of the user, IP address, before, after and changed data content. The software also maintains by default all system generated emails and integration logs within the application.

• Protection from network

Make sure that the hr software has the best firewall protection from network attacks and security breach. Unnecessary ports should be blocked by configuring security groups. The software should have a sophisticated system monitoring and logging procedures. An implementation of a two-factor authentication for all the server access across the company will ensure an additional security for the data.

• In-Transit Data Encryption
  

The software should come with the latest and the recommended secure cipher suites and the protocols which will encrypt all the traffics in transit. Ask the vendor whether the hr software will monitor all the changing cryptographic landscape closely and whether it is equipped to auto-upgrade itself in case of a new cryptographic landscape that makes its way into the market.

• Auto-update procedure

The software must support auto-upgradation as technology is changing at light’s speed and keeping up with it is a necessity. An auto-update option will make sure that the software updates itself over the secured internet connection and modify itself with the new options and features.

As they say, Precaution is better than Cure, why not look before we leap !