Nowadays, we can say that data is the new gold or diamond as they are considered precious in the modern world. It has become the lifeblood because of its rapid development of the business technology revolution that facilitates the processing and analyzing more data in richer and more complex forms. This can be the basis of decision-making in most organizations. Collecting huge amounts of data has become the crown jewel of every organization as there are benefits. However, there are also dangers and threats to having data in the organization. There is a tendency to centralize data holdings on internal and external hostings including processing capability, efficiency management, access, and protection. Big data can be a juicy target and it can be serious especially when hackers get access to bulk data.
To address this, technical security has improved significantly over the past years and the security industry has improved significantly in terms of modern tools, business approaches, and implementation of effective products.
The Threat of Insider
Even after significant investments in training and awareness, certain studies show humans are still doing remarkably not-so-good things. It means that despite the advancement in security, data breaches still occur and most of these breaches are due to human error or behavior. This can be a threat to the management and can impose a greater risk. These errors include clicking on email links, poor password choice, sharing logins, losing equipment, and many more. Well, those are only accidental sides, the worse is there are malicious sides as well.
According to a study conducted by IBM’s Cyber Security Intelligence Index in 2016, sixty percent of all attacks were carried out by insiders. More than half of them are involved in malicious intent which means any updated threat assessment should have an insider high on the list. These insiders can be the staff, suppliers, and contractors who were given authorized access to the organization’s systems and data.
This now gives rise to some basic and important questions like, how do we assure our staff? Or what trust can we take from their character? Or can we investigate their background and make judgments about them? Well, the answer? Employee screening.
Employee Screening
Organizations often screen staff by performing checks on their background to validate their declared history. As an employer, you typically won’t know much about your new staff member beyond a CV and an interview unless you go mining on social media or you have a personal connection. Staff are also moving roles with the organization which can raise the same concerns. There is a range of identity and criminal checks to validate who a person is and whether they are suitable for employment. Generally, organizations do similar things through the screening processes with the same aim and we have already accepted this part of applying for jobs. Organizations often need to do more detailed screening due to the sensitivity of the business operations or access to particularly sensitive data like intellectual property, economic information, or personally identifiable information. You can get more information about employee screening with this link background check services Utah. With this, another question will arise – is background screening ethical?
Is It Ethical to Do Background Screening?
So, employee screening can raise some ethical dilemmas, for employers as they have the right to delve into the background, personal life, and character of their staff. What if they discovered something bad? If the screening could still affect an employee’s suitability for the position in the organization? Organizations, especially private ones can perform their own versions of thorough checks beyond the criminal and into civil records, publicly available information, and social media or simply just employ background screening services to do the checks on their behalf.
How Far Does an Employer Have to Investigate Its Employee’s Background?
The law generally allows organizations to monitor their staff and allows checks for things like the right to work, criminal checks, and health checks for certain roles where the applicability is clear. This can be done through logs like emails, internet browsing, or system activities. Results from screening increased assurance about an employee’s character and enabled judgments on their ability to initiate or be influenced to perform malicious activity from the inside.
What Employers Can Do?
Employee screening plays a crucial part in a layered security regime and many ways, it actually protects them from accusations and enables trust, but they still get nervous. But with the right information and knowledge of its ethical standards, it can be very beneficial and can achieve greater transparency. Remember the following things:
1. Policy
Understand the screening process. Document it clearly to make sure the organization accepts the need and supports it. Conduct different screenings for different roles. Those with privilege or involved in sensitive processes can be identified to determine the specific screening process so the security assurance is focused on the right roles on the right level. Talk about this with the other stakeholders of the company so you can arrive at the agreed terms.
2. Recruitment
Be very clear and upfront about the screening requirements for the roles posted for external candidates. The candidates must understand what the employer will be doing as part of the recruitment process. You can indicate the information you want to know, why you want it, how you will use it as part of the selection, and so on. With this, the candidate has the option of whether to apply and what to expect if they do continue with their application.
3. Internal moves
Be very clear to inform staff that some roles have screening and an identified level. It should be published internally for the dissemination of information because you need to be transparent. This also gives candidates the option of whether to apply or not and will set their expectations.
4. Data processing
Employee screening can be a heavily manual process that naturally collects lots of personally sensitive information. As the employer, you need to store information, process, and retain personal data related to screening. You need to be very with it in other words. You can check background check services Utah if you decide to avail of background screening services for your company.
