The wave of job changes in 2024 highlights a crucial issue for library directors—ensuring the security of your library’s information during employee turnover. Even renowned institutions with sophisticated security measures can falter when it comes to offboarding staff, posing serious risks to sensitive information.
Take a lesson from the corporate world: In August last year, two former employees of a major company exposed the personal information of over 75,000 individuals. This breach underscores the importance of a robust offboarding process.
As of May 2024, numerous tech companies have laid off thousands of workers. This trend emphasizes the need for all organizations, including libraries, to adopt stringent measures to protect their data. It’s not just a business concern—libraries, too, face risks if former employees retain access to sensitive information.
Why Proper Offboarding Matters
- Protection of Library Data: Former employees might take confidential library information with them, potentially sharing it with competitors or using it inappropriately. Studies show that a significant percentage of employees take data when they leave, which can harm your library’s operations and reputation.
- Compliance: Failure to remove former employees from authorized user lists can lead to noncompliance with data protection regulations, resulting in fines and legal consequences.
- Data Integrity: Disgruntled employees with access can delete essential records, such as digital archives, patron information, and internal documents. Without proper backups, this data loss can be irrecoverable.
- Data Breaches: Unhappy former employees may cause data breaches, exposing patron information, financial records, and more, leading to lawsuits and loss of trust.
- Account Management: Employees often use their personal emails and logins for various library-related accounts, including tech services and vendor platforms. When they leave, this can result in lost access to important accounts and services, creating operational disruptions. Properly managing these accounts and ensuring they are transitioned or revoked is crucial to maintaining smooth library operations.
Strengthening Your Library’s Offboarding Process
To mitigate these risks, it’s crucial to have a comprehensive offboarding process. Here are key steps to consider:
- Implement the Principle of Least Privilege: Start with a robust onboarding process. Ensure new employees only have access to the information necessary for their roles. This makes it easier to revoke access during offboarding.
- Use Automation: Utilize automation to revoke access to multiple systems simultaneously, reducing the risk of manual errors.
- Continuous Monitoring: Employ software that monitors network activity to detect suspicious behavior, ensuring any unauthorized access by former employees is swiftly identified and addressed.
These steps can enhance the efficiency and security of your offboarding process, protecting your library from potential insider threats.
Taking Action
Proactive measures are essential. Ensure your library’s offboarding process is airtight. If you’re uncertain about potential gaps, consider a risk assessment to identify and resolve vulnerabilities.
Our team offers a free, in-depth risk assessment to help you safeguard your library’s data. Contact us at 317-559-6284.
By prioritizing a secure offboarding process, you protect not only your library’s data but also its reputation and trustworthiness.
Our Team Can Help
Have a new bookkeeper using AVC Technology Accounting and/or Payroll software? Contact us to ensure they are properly set up with their own login credentials. We also offer a quick training overview for anyone new to the system.
If you have any other concerns, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We’re here to help.