Have you ever had to terminate an employee? Perhaps this worker was consistently late; or maybe their performance took a nosedive even after repeated attempts to get them back on track; or maybe there was an incident that was unbecoming to the company and the only recourse was to conclude the relationship.
Firing an employee isn't exactly pleasant, but it's something employers need to do every now and again to keep their business productive and healthy.
In this event, it is imperative to reclaim your technologies as quickly as possible. It may seem harsh, but it's infinitely preferable to allowing a disgruntled employee to damage your network or online reputation.
According to CFO, nearly 75 percent of companies have been affected by internal data breaches, 17 percent of which were intentionally caused by employees. Even if this does happen, cybersecurity insurance from CyberPolicy has your back.
Below are a few tips to keep in mind to ensure a digitally secure termination process.
Get It in Writing: Bring HR into the room when announcing the separation process to your employee. Be sure to reiterate the company's data use policy and the legal penalties for violating such an agreement. Seek confirmation in writing to prevent any misunderstandings.
Work with IT: While HR is essential in the termination process, IT shouldn't be left out of the loop. Talk to IT to discuss the process of removing the employee from your systems, devices and services quickly and conveniently. It's much harder to call an ex-employee back in to return their laptop than to have IT standing by.
Reclaim Corporate Devices: Obviously, it's important to recover organization-provided laptops or smartphones, but don't forget to salvage USBs, external hard drives or any other device that is used to store or access company data.
Wipe the Slate Clean: Restoring a corporate computer is a little more intensive than deleting the ex-workers profile and creating a new one. Quarantine the device from your network to avoid the spread of malware or ransomware. Wipe files, programs and add-ons from the device and perform an antivirus search for anything dubious. Only then will the computer be safe to pass to another employee.
Dissolve Employee's Email: It only take a moment to send a phishing email, so be sure to dissolve the employee's account before anything fishy can happen. This will also stymie email redirects from reaching your terminated worker.
Delete Business Apps: Securing business network from internal incursion has gotten more difficult since organization started employing 'bring your own device' (BYOD) policies. Even so, it's crucial to sign out ex-workers from important apps and accounts. It's recommended to go through the employee's device with them to assuage any concerns they may have about IT looking through their personal devices.
Change Social Passwords: A vindictive employee can really hurt your reputation if they get into your social media accounts. If the worker had access to your corporate Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, veto their access immediately by changing the password and security questions.
As mentioned above, cybersecurity insurance from CyberPolicy can help pay for damages following a data breach or internal cyberattack. Hopefully it never comes to this, but if it does, it's nice to know you aren't alone.
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