The Rise of Ransomware: Keeping Your Data Secure

Ransomware attacks are on the rise. According to Forbes, ransomware attacks are reaching record numbers in 2021, and costs from such attacks are expected to reach $265 billion by 2031. The recent attack on the HR management company Ultimate Kronos Group is just one of hundreds this year alone, and it means many users will have difficulty accessing payroll, handling timesheets, and managing their workforce.

Every business should prioritize cybersecurity to ensure security measures are in place to protect vital information from malware, ransomware, damage, and theft, especially those in HR and payroll industries. In this blog post, we’ll go over some of the things you can implement to remain secure and how Proliant keeps payroll and HR data safe for our clients. 

How Proliant Keeps Your Payroll and HR Data Secure

Proliant’s HRIS is one of your main lines of protection for your data because our solutions are tailored to meet your HR documentation and record-keeping needs. Our system utilizes the utmost security to help ensure your employee information stays safe. 

Proliant encrypts information in transit using secure socket layer technology (SSL) whenever you transmit information through our registration process or if you purchase our products or services. This security technology is a protocol for servers and web browsers that ensures data shared between the two remains private. 

You may have noticed when you visit a website that it will have HTTPS:// at the beginning of the URL. This means that it is encrypted with SSL and your browser has formed a connection with the webserver, ensuring no one other than you and the website can access the information you input. 

Proliant takes data security very seriously. We follow all of the appropriate industry standards to protect personal information and data. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet or method of data storage can be guaranteed 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data and personal information, we cannot ensure the absolute security of any information you transmit to us or archive on our site.

In order to safeguard against ransomware and other cyber attacks on your business, it is necessary for you to have security measures in place as well. 

How to Boost Cyber Security for Your Business 

If your company is handling a lot of personal information, it is vital for you to have a cybersecurity staff to help ensure that data remains secure. They can help make sure you have the strategies and systems in place to prevent cyber attacks from affecting your business. 

Here are a few steps you should take to ensure your business is safe from cyber attacks: 

Keep security up to date: Regularly update your security programs and any other software you use. You will probably receive a prompt from any software your business uses to update regularly. 

Maintain layered security measures: It is recommended that you use a combination of security tools so that if one fails, there is a backup in place to alert your security team of any issues. Security tools include firewalls, spam filters, cloud data loss prevention, anti-virus software, and anti-malware software. 

Conduct security and awareness training: Be sure that you conduct regular training for employees to familiarize themselves with your security measures and to learn how to keep an eye out for phishing scams that would compromise the integrity of your security. Also, train employees to regularly log out of the system and update passwords to keep data protected. 

Configure access controls: Make sure that only people who need access to certain files and documents have it. Set access controls to ensure data is only shared to a minimal extent. Consider different settings for management versus other employees. 

Implement multifactor authentication and strong password requirements: For multifactor authentication, you can have users input a code generated by a security tool in addition to a password for added security. Passwords should be updated regularly and have strong requirements:

• Minimum of 8 and less than 64 characters.
• Include one special character.
• Avoid using sequential or repetitive characters (e.g., 1234 or 1111).
• Don’t include easy-to-guess terms like your name, pet’s name, or the name of your business.
• Don’t use any form of the word “password” or other commonly used words (e.g., P@ssw0rd).
• Don’t use old passwords and ensure passwords are reset regularly.
• Utilize a password generator like LastPass to generate a strong password. 

Enable strong spam filters: Adding strong spam filters to email and messaging services will help ensure phishing emails never make it to employees in the first place. 

Use time-out features: Time-out features help prevent third parties from accessing information if employees forget to log out. 

Double-check downloaded software: If you need to use software from sources other than your trusted vendors, make sure you use a virus detection program to check the download before installing.  

Conduct reviews: Scheduled and unscheduled reviews are a way you can make sure users still maintain an effective level of security. 

Have a backup plan: If you back up and store data in an off-site system, then you don’t have to worry about it being held for ransom. Just be sure to regularly test images and files for integrity. 

Now more than ever, it is essential to have robust data security measures in place. Focus recruitment efforts on gathering a team for maintaining the security of your systems if you don’t already have one. 

As always, Proliant is here to help with tips and our account managers are ready to answer any questions you may have about the security of your data.