Employee Monitoring: A Balanced Approach
Monitoring employees for insider threats is a complex topic that involves balancing security concerns with individual privacy and ethical considerations. While it's important to protect a company's sensitive information and assets, it's equally important to respect the privacy and rights of employees.
Employee monitoring refers to the methods employers use to surveil their workplaces, including staff members' whereabouts and activities. In the cyber context, it is the practice of monitoring systems, networks, and programs. In both cases, businesses aim to accomplish the following goals:
Prevent internal theft
Examine employee productivity
Ensure company resources are being used correctly
Secure sensitive data and IP from theft
That last goal – securing data – continues to top the C-suite priority list. According to The Global Risks Report 2022 from the World Economic Forum, “the Cybersecurity measures in place by businesses, governments and individuals are increasingly being rendered obsolete by the growing sophistication of cybercriminals.”
It is no surprise that companies are exploring which technologies, processes, and programs they can adopt to proactively mitigate risk.
The human element is the most common threat vector
In a security context, human error means unintentional actions (or lack of action) by employees and users that can cause, spread or allow a security breach to take place. Whether it’s a link click, download, missed update, or misconfiguration, everyday mistakes can lead to big problems.
However, traditional security measures tend to focus on external threats and are not always capable of identifying an internal threat emanating from inside the organization. As such organizations are in need of a solution to keep track of employee actions and correlate information from multiple data sources to detect risk before an incident occurs.
innerActiv insider risk management technology can greatly assist in achieving these goals, and should be complemented by comprehensive security policies, user awareness training, and a strong organizational culture of security to effectively address insider risks.
Considerations and best practices
Here are some considerations and best practices to keep in mind when monitoring employees:
Clear purpose: Clearly define the purpose of monitoring and ensure that it aligns with legitimate business interests, such as productivity, security, or regulatory compliance. Avoid monitoring activities that do not directly contribute to these goals.
Proportional monitoring: Implement monitoring measures that are proportionate to the potential risks faced by your organization. The level of monitoring should be based on the sensitivity of the information or assets being protected. Avoid excessive or intrusive monitoring that goes beyond what is necessary.
Focus on anomalies: Consider monitoring that focuses on detecting anomalies or suspicious behavior. This can include monitoring for unauthorized access to sensitive information, unusual data transfers, or changes in employee behavior that may indicate potential insider threats. By focusing on specific indicators, you can minimize the amount of data collected and ensure more targeted monitoring.
Confidentiality and data protection: Safeguard the collected data with appropriate security measures. Limit access to the collected data only to authorized personnel who have a legitimate need to know. Implement strong data protection practices to prevent unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of employee information.
Regular audits and reviews: Conduct regular audits and reviews of your monitoring practices to ensure they remain effective, lawful, and aligned with your organization's goals. Continuously evaluate the risks, effectiveness, and impact of your monitoring activities and make necessary adjustments as required.
Legal compliance: Ensure that your monitoring practices comply with applicable laws and regulations, including data protection and privacy laws. Consult with legal experts to ensure your monitoring practices are within the boundaries of the law.
How much is too much?
Determining how much employee monitoring is too much can be a subjective question as it depends on various factors such as the nature of the work, company policies, legal requirements, and employee expectations. While monitoring can help ensure productivity, security, and adherence to company policies, excessive monitoring can negatively impact employee morale, trust, and privacy.
Remember, finding the right balance is crucial. It's essential to maintain a healthy work environment that respects employees' privacy and fosters trust while meeting the organization's needs for productivity, security, and compliance.
Learn how innerActiv takes a balanced approach to mitigating insider risk.
