As a Human Resources (HR) representative, you have two primary responsibilities: to keep the company safe and healthy, and to keep employees productive and secure. And in 2024, there’s no question that one of the biggest threats to both priorities is cyberattacks.
In 2023, three out of every four companies was at risk of being targeted by cyberattacks; and experts expect the volume and potential damage of cyber incursions to rise, projecting a $452 billion dollar loss for U.S. companies alone. Employees are companies’ first line of defense against cyberattacks – and as an HR representative, you play a key role in preparing them and your organization to identify and respond to cyberthreats.
In this article, we’ll walk through your legal and organizational responsibilities as an HR representative, showing you how to help your team prepare for and respond to cyberattacks.
Enforcing Education and Best Practices
Overseeing training and development is one of the main responsibilities of HR representatives; and, funnily enough, is one of the best ways you can contribute to your organization’s cybersecurity strategy. Training your employees to recognize common cyberthreats like phishing attempts, imposter websites, and social engineering is not only beneficial from a proactive standpoint – in many states, it’s required by law.
As an HR representative, you’ll have a direct hand in assembling your organization’s cybersecurity training program – and you’ll also be the company’s primary method of holding employees accountable for completing it. If you’re having difficulty getting employees to complete their training, try any of these methods:
- Setting a hard deadline;
- Sending mass reminders via email;
- Gently following up with stragglers through their preferred communication channel;
- Offering rewards to those who complete their training early, or with excellent results;
- Having face-to-face meetings with people who refuse to engage to isolate and address the cause.
You can also directly prevent cyberattacks like credential stuffing by standardizing cybersecurity best practices. By writing measures like mandatory password resets and adopting multi-factor authentication into company law, you’ll proactively add barriers to entry that protect against employee error. You can also administer semi-frequent testing each quarter, both to refresh employees on cybersecurity best practices and to identify potential holes in their knowledge.
Managing Internal Communication
Another big part of an HR representative’s role in the fight against cybercrime is managing internal communication; i.e., working in conjunction with IT and executive leadership to institute controls on where data is stored, how, and who has access to it. As much as we like to think of potential bad actors only being outside, insider threats are a very real, very dangerous risk – and it’s by taking measures to control and observe data access that HR can protect their organization from them.
A few key responsibilities you have in this area, as well as some associated strategies for maintaining security and compliance include:
- Utilizing zero-trust architecture: Zero-trust architecture requires every individual accessing company systems to authenticate themselves, and is usually paired with multi-factor authentication for added security. Embracing zero-trust architecture not only protects against outside agents being where they don’t belong – strict permissions can also be put on sensitive files to stop internal bad actors as well.
- Auditing third-party vendors for compliance: If a third-party vendor your organization partners with does not adhere to data regulations, your risk of both financial and legal fallout from a breach spikes. Instituting a strict governance policy for third-party partners and frequently checking their own policies to ensure alignment are crucial proactive measures.
- Identifying vulnerabilities: Overseeing regular system vulnerability audits and conducting penetration testing opens your eyes to potentially exploitable gaps in security. Working in conjunction with IT, you can use the results to construct policies to navigate around some of the less easy-to-address issues.
HR’s role is typically centered on policy and policy enforcement, whereas IT can provide solutions that patch existing vulnerabilities. By setting strict guidelines that preserve information security and partnering with other departments to enact needed changes, you can ensure your organization’s security is properly fortified against risk.
Dealing With Fallout Post-Breach
Finally, we come to one of the most critical aspects of HR’s role: dealing with the aftermath of a breach. After systems fail and cybercriminals manage to break through, HR professionals can take action by:
- Creating a clear communication plan for stakeholders and customers. This plan will outline why the breach occurred, the measures being taken to recover whatever possible, and the approach that the organization will take to prevent future incursions.
- Leading compliance assessments and identifying other areas of vulnerability. Put another way, making sure that the organization’s response aligns with federal and local regulations, and that any outstanding risk factors are assessed and resolved post-haste.
- Re-evaluating and instituting new best practices. Following a breach, HR leads efforts to re-train employees, create a culture of cybersecurity awareness in the organization, and institute new cybersecurity policies. Their efforts in creating a culture of awareness will likely be supported by measures such as device hardening protocols, regular network patching, and end-to-end encryption.
Preparation is key in dealing with cyberattacks, both before and after they occur. The more steps HR representatives take to head off risk before it arrives, the more prepared the organization will be to respond appropriately to break-ins. Follow these best practices, and your HR team will have a framework in place to protect the company from legal and financial harm.
Featured photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash
