How to Support Your Employees in the Event of a Data Breach

Here’s how organizations can protect their organizations and their employee’s data

In 2023 we witnessed an alarming rise in data breaches, setting records in both the frequency of them and how hard an impact they made to businesses and humans. Into 2024, early indicators suggest a continuation of this troubling trend. These breaches highlight the dynamic landscape of cyber threats and emphasize the urgent need for reinforced cybersecurity measures.

Protecting Your Employees: The Importance of Proactive Cybersecurity Measures

Imagine this: you’ve just heard the news there’s another data breach—and this time your employees’ personal information may have been exposed. Your employees might start to panic and attempt to find out if they’re one of the victims. Has their information been leaked? What can you do as an employer to help them?

When an employee’s personal information is exposed during a data breach, their risk of falling victim to identity theft escalates. It is crucial for employers to actively assess and implement preventative strategies to shield employees from such vulnerabilities. Additionally, educating employees on the steps they can take in the aftermath of a data breach is equally important for bolstering their personal cybersecurity resilience.

The steps an employee should take after a data breach often depends on the category of the breached organization and the type of information revealed. For instance, a healthcare data breach may reveal more sensitive health information (HIPAA) and compromise employees’ medical care, while a financial data breach may put their credit, bank accounts, and other financial-related data at risk.

There are five types of data breaches.

• Healthcare Data Breach: A healthcare data breach occurs when information employees have provided to their healthcare organization, doctor’s office, or insurance company has been exposed or accessed by an unauthorized person.
• Financial Data Breach: A financial data breach occurs when a company exposes financial information like an employee’s credit card or bank account information.
• Government Data Breach: A government data breach occurs when confidential information is stolen or unintentionally exposed or leaked from federal, state, or local government agencies. This includes the military.
• Educational Data Breach: Breaches at educational institutions have been increasing. Universities are often targeted because they collect a lot of sensitive data on students and their parents, faculty, and staff to fulfill the many obligations of applications, financial aid, attendance, and employment.
• Entertainment Data Breach: An entertainment data breach occurs when an employee’s personal information has been compromised at companies like video game developers or concert and sporting event ticketing services.

Here are the steps your employees can take to help protect themselves against data breaches:

1. Get confirmation of the breach and whether their information was exposed. The first thing an employee should do is confirm the breach occurred. If they’ve received an email saying there’s been a breach, that isn’t enough—that email could be from scammers posing as the potentially breached company to get their personal information. They should not respond to potentially fake emails. To help them be informed, it’s a good idea for them to directly contact the breached company. A breached company may also set up a portal that provides breach-related information for their customers to help them find out if their individual information was compromised.
2. Find out what type of data was stolen. Employees should find out what types of data were stolen. Why does this matter? If the only data exposed was their credit card information, they can call their card issuer to cancel and replace their credit card. But if their Social Security number (SSN) was stolen along with other personally identifiable information (PII), that exposed data is more sensitive. The risk? Such information could enable the thief to assume their identity or use that data in other ways.
3. Change and strengthen online logins, passwords, and security Q&As. Employees should immediately change their online login information, passwords, and security questions and answers for the breached accounts—along with any other accounts that have similar login information and passwords. If they want more help with this, password managers can be an additional layer of protection.
4. Contact the right people and take additional action. This is where the type of data stolen really comes into play. If the employees’ credit and/or debit card information was stolen, they should reach out immediately to their bank to cancel the card and request a new one. However, if personal information like their Social Security number is exposed, it may be easier for them to become a victim of identity theft. The FTC recommends considering a credit freeze for the accounts with the three major credit report agencies so it’s more difficult for someone to open a new account in their name.
5. Stay alert and monitor their accounts. Employees should watch for signs of new credit or monetary activity in the wake of a breach. They should check their accounts regularly for suspicious activity. In cases where a Social Security number is compromised, cybercriminals have been known to wait years before using it, and when you least expect it, so always remain vigilant.

Protecting Your Employees in this Data Breach Era

The issue of data breaches is widespread and poses an enduring challenge. Untangling the aftermath demands time and effort. Employers are increasingly seeking ways to mitigate their impact. Two key strategies include:

Cyber Training: An estimated 74% of data breaches involve a human element. Fostering cyber safety habits, raising awareness, and providing training is essential in today’s digital era.

Cyber Safety Benefit Plans: Offering a comprehensive Cyber Safety Protection plan, such as Norton LifeLock Benefit Solutions, is an effective way to lessen the impact of data breaches.

The well-being of employees is of the utmost importance. Data breaches transcend mere statistics – they have real and profound effects on individuals. By providing employer-sponsored protection plans, we can offer a buffer against these impacts, alleviating both the emotional and financial strain on employees. This ensures that they can concentrate on their most important task at work without the burden of additional worry.

All-in-one protection against threats to employees’ identity, security, and privacy is crucial in an era where data breaches are more likely, leaving them concerned about whether they could be next.

For more about how Businessolver and Norton work together, visit Pinnacle Partners to learn more.