Cybersecurity Insider Threats From Contingent Workers

Dateline: May 4, 2018

Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend.

By now, if you have been following this blog, you are well aware that one of the biggest cybersecurity threats is the people inside your organization.  Experts predict that as our businesses grow, so does our contingent workforce; by 2020, the contingent workforce is expected to be more than 40% of a company’s total workforce.  What does that mean for managing cybersecurity within your company?

Bitpipe.com shared a report by Identity Automation titled, “6 Insider Threat Mitigation Strategies” that suggests that insider threats are larger for the contingent work because they are often not exposed to the same training or security policies, there is a greater turnover of contingent employees, and most companies do not have robust identity access and management controls in place.   The report summarizes the threat,

Most companies have a limited knowledge of their contingent users. The same risks inherent to the full-time employee are actually elevated in the case of the contingent worker, due to a lack of loyalty, higher churn, and minimal training. Traditional identity and access management systems are often unable to keep up with this new breed of contingent worker, forcing organizations to move slower or open themselves up to increased security risk—something no business can afford.

Reducing this threat, the report continues, means doing these six things:

  1. Better vetting during the hiring process
  2. Security training for contingent workers beginning on day 1
  3. Stricter access controls limited to systems they need for the time they need it
  4. Centralize access with an appropriate authoritative source
  5. Delegate and automated access to the hiring managers
  6. Automatic de-provisioning when the employee leaves the organization

How do you manage cybersecurity concerns arising from your contingent workers?  What does your plan include?

That’s a WRAP!  Have a great weekend!

 

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