How To Prevent Former Employees From Accessing Your Data?

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Are you sure your former employees don’t still have access to your organization’s sensitive data?

When employees leave, their access should be revoked immediately to avoid security breaches. However, reports suggest, 63% of IT leaders admit that sensitive data in their organization is not properly secured.

If action isn’t taken in time, your organization may face issues like security breaches, data leaks, or compliance violations. The good news is, to protect your organization from unauthorized access, you only need one advanced SaaS management and governance platform, like CloudEagle.ai, instead of relying on multiple tools.

Explore how CloudEagle.ai can help prevent unauthorized access and strengthen data security.

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TL;DR

• CloudEagle.ai automatically revokes access to all systems and applications when an employee leaves.
• The tool leverages role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure employees only access the resources necessary for their roles, simplifying offboarding.
• CloudEagle.ai integrates with HR systems to automatically update and revoke access when an employee’s status changes.
• Automated offboarding and audit trails help ensure compliance with regulations like ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, etc.
• The tool automatically offboards former employees and monitors access, ensuring they can't access sensitive data, reducing mistakes and preventing breaches.

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1. What Are The Risks Of Retained Access?

Retained app access by former employees poses serious security risks, including:

A. Increased Attack Surface

Keeping access to former employees or vendors increases security risks. Old credentials or systems that aren’t deactivated provide easy targets for cyberattacks, especially as more platforms are added to the organization.

B. Intellectual Property Theft

Retained access can lead to intellectual property theft. Former employees might steal confidential data, like designs or code, which can harm the company’s competitive edge or financial standing.

C. Regulatory Non-Compliance

If access isn’t revoked when someone leaves, it can lead to regulatory violations like ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA, etc. This can result in heavy fines or legal consequences, especially if sensitive data is exposed.

D. Increased Insider Threats

Former employees with retained access can pose insider threats. They might intentionally cause harm or make mistakes that lead to data theft, system damage, or breaches if their access isn’t properly revoked.

E. Operational Disruptions

Unauthorized access can cause operational disruptions. Former employees may unintentionally cause delays or downtime by altering systems or data, impacting productivity and business operations.

F. Reputational Damage

Retained access can lead to data breaches, damaging the company’s reputation. A security incident may result in the loss of trust from customers and partners, affecting the business and causing negative publicity.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and a few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it,” Stephane Nappo, Cybersecurity Expert.

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2. Key Steps to Prevent Former Employees from Retaining Access

To protect sensitive information, it's vital to follow the right steps when an employee leaves, which includes:

A. Create A Formal Offboarding Process

A clear offboarding process ensures all steps are followed when an employee leaves, like revoking access to systems, apps, and data. A checklist helps minimize mistakes. This includes collecting property, disabling accounts, and confirming that security protocols are in place.

B. Revoke Access Immediately

When an employee leaves, quickly cut off access to all systems and applications to prevent unauthorized access. Disable accounts like email and cloud storage within hours. This stops any potential security risks, whether accidental or intentional.

C. Change Passwords and Access Keys

After an employee departs, change passwords for shared resources and systems they had access to. This ensures that any saved credentials are no longer valid. IT should update admin accounts and privileged systems to prevent misuse.

D. Audit And Review Access Logs

Regularly audit access logs to detect unauthorized activity. When an employee leaves, review their logs to ensure no sensitive data was accessed or extracted. This adds an extra layer of security and helps spot suspicious actions.

E. Implement Role-Based Access Control

RBAC ensures employees only have access to what’s necessary for their role. It makes it easier to revoke access when someone leaves, ensuring sensitive data is protected. For example, an employee leaving the finance department would quickly lose access to financial systems.

F. Conduct Regular Access Reviews

Periodic access reviews help identify unused accounts or outdated permissions. Regular checks, like quarterly reviews, ensure that former employees no longer have access to sensitive data. This ensures the system stays secure and access is up to date.

G. Automate Offboarding Processes

Automating the offboarding process ensures access is revoked immediately when an employee leaves. Tools like SaaS management platforms can automatically disable access as soon as their termination date is entered. This reduces the chance of human error.

Discover how Treasure Data successfully streamlined employee offboarding with CloudEagle.ai.

H. Integrate With HR Systems

Linking IAM and HR systems allows for automatic updates when an employee’s status changes. When marked as terminated, access rights are revoked across systems. This ensures no delay or errors during offboarding.

I. Use MFA for All Users

MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring more than just a password. Even if a former employee’s password is compromised, a second form of identification, such as phone verification, prevents unauthorized access.

J. Educate Employees on Data Protection

A Statista survey found that in organizations with over 1,000 employees, 62% of those responsible for IAM consider adaptability to their company’s specific needs as a top priority.

However, not all employees are fully aware of security protocols. Therefore, it becomes crucial for organizations to train employees on data security and secure offboarding to reduce risks.

“Security is always excessive until it’s not enough," Robbie Sinclair, Head of Security, Country Energy, NSW Australia.

When employees understand the importance of these practices, they are more likely to follow the correct procedures. Providing clear guidelines on revoking access and securing devices is essential in protecting company data.

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3. Leveraging CloudEagle.ai for Complete Ex-Employee Offboarding

CloudEagle.ai streamlines employee offboarding and protects your company’s data by:

A. Streamlined Offboarding Process with Automation

CloudEagle.ai takes the hassle out of offboarding by automating key steps. As soon as an employee’s status is updated in the system, the platform kicks off auto-deprovisioning workflows to revoke their access across all relevant systems and applications.

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This automation reduces human error and ensures a fast, consistent offboarding every time. With CloudEagle.ai, no manual work is needed from your IT team, as it automatically disables accounts across email, cloud services, and internal systems.

Check out this inspiring success story of how Bloom & Wild has improved their onboarding and offboarding processes with CloudEagle.ai.

B. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

CloudEagle.ai leverages role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure that employees only have access to the resources necessary for their roles. When an employee leaves, administrators can quickly revoke permissions associated with their specific role. This granular control prevents over-provisioning and ensures that no unnecessary access remains after offboarding.

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C. Integration with HR Systems for Seamless Offboarding

CloudEagle.ai makes ex-employee offboarding easy by connecting with HR systems. When an employee leaves, the HR system automatically notifies CloudEagle.ai, which then revokes access to all the apps the employee used.

CloudEagle.ai automates offboarding, ensuring that former employees lose access to company systems, protecting sensitive data. It streamlines offboarding, reducing security risks by ensuring only authorized employees can access resources.

D. Comprehensive Audit Trails for Enhanced Security

CloudEagle.ai keeps detailed audit logs to track every action taken during the offboarding process. These logs record when accounts were deactivated, permissions revoked, and data transferred, providing full transparency.

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These audit trails are critical for compliance and help organizations quickly spot suspicious activity. With CloudEagle.ai’s audit logs, you can investigate any unusual behavior and ensure the offboarding process was secure.

E. Continuous Monitoring and Alerts

CloudEagle.ai continuously monitors access even after offboarding. If there are any attempts to use former employee credentials, the platform sends real-time alerts. This proactive monitoring helps prevent unauthorized actions and reduces security risks after offboarding.

If a former employee's account tries to access sensitive data after being deactivated, CloudEagle.ai immediately sends an alert to the security team, allowing them to investigate and take action quickly.

F. Time-Based Access

With time-based access, CloudEagle.ai ensures that employees only have access for as long as they need it, and their permissions are automatically revoked once they no longer require it. This helps protect your organization’s sensitive data and lowers the risk of data breaches.

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CloudEagle.ai uses time-based access controls to limit how long employees can access systems and data. Once their work is done, access expires after a set period, ensuring no access stays open for too long. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if accounts aren’t disabled right away.

To learn how automating employee onboarding and offboarding with CloudEagle.ai can benefit your organization, hear what Alice Park from Remediant has to say about it.

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4. Conclusion

Ensuring that former employees no longer have access is a critical step toward securing your digital assets and maintaining regulatory compliance. However, preventing former employees from accessing data requires more than just deactivating their accounts; it needs a proactive approach.

Automating the offboarding process ensures quick and accurate access revocation, reducing mistakes. CloudEagle.ai makes this easy by automating offboarding, enforcing strict access controls, and continuously monitoring for any risks.

Ready to take action and ensure former employees no longer have access? Schedule a demo with CloudEagle.ai today!

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