An HRIS system contains sensitive and private information. Well, we all know the significant importance of privacy and the level the law at both levels of the government protects it. Cloud-based HRIS solutions and other advancements in technology have made guarding the confidentiality of your employees incredibly tricky, but safeguarding it is critical than ever.

As a Human Resources professional, albeit the challenges, you must protect the personal information of your employees and their families, as well as that of unsuccessful or yet-to-be-interviewed applicants. There are potential hazards if you fail to protect the HRIS. Today, compromising your employee’s privacy constitutes to mishandling of information, and “invasion of privacy”, among other crimes. So, you do and keep doing more to keep the HRIS information confidential. Here are a few tips:

How to enhance HRIS security

1. Acquire the most secure HRIS

Security is a serious consideration when acquiring an HRIS software. You can always use referrals or check reviews online to settle for a system with impeccable security. Alternatively, you can use a vendor with a long-standing reputation for supplying the best HRIS systems. Such suppliers are well informed of the requirements and know what exactly to look out for in such software. They would help you save time in landing the most secure system that will serve your needs.

2. Restrict Access Based on Needs

While having a sound system significantly reduces the amount of work needed to keep your database safe and secure, that alone is not enough. You need to put local measures in place to inhibit both external and internal threats to your HRIS. Such measures include:

• Run a test employee account and see what data they can access and see how that affect your business and the right to privacy.
• Restrict the level of access to the information to what such employees need, on various level of management. By doing so, you make the system available to the employees while also monitoring what they do.

3. Create Security Policies

Some security breaches may be as a result of leaks by managers or employees with certain level clearance. In essence, no matter how secure your system is, if your employees don’t follow a specific code of conduct, the information will leak anyway. A security policy outlines how you deal with employees who share confidential information. This rule would not only discourage leakages but also sharing of logging codes.

4. Frequently Update your HRIS Security

Periodically conduct system upgrades and updates to reinforce your firewalls and security patches. Such periodic maintenance ensures you don’t become vulnerable and nip problems in the bud. It also disorients hackers who are always on the lookout to bypass your security protocols.

5. Enable Timeout Features

Most people have the habit of not logging out. Timeout feature logs you out after a specific time without activity. The feature prevents third parties from taking advantage of inadvertently open access.

These measures will help you keep the system safe. However, as mentioned, you are often on a race against the prying hackers, and you need to be ahead of them. So, if the attacks ever succeed, you need to have a disaster recovery plan. A recovery plan is not admitting that the system is vulnerable, but is being proactive and saves you the time in restoring the system.

Is your HRIS safe? Talk to HRIS professionals and internet security professionals to have it checked out.