A Study Expressing The Risk Of Cyber Crime From An Ex-Company Employee

Ex-employee could be a source of risk of cyberattack (photo: Kaspersky)

JAKARTA - Kaspersky recently analyzed how well the preparation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is in the face of the worst-case scenario where former employees still have access to the company's data or systems.

The study found that nearly half of the MSMEs surveyed were not 100 percent sure that dismissed employees were unable to access their business data through cloud services or company accounts.

If a former employee still has access to company services or information systems, they can cause a lot of harm to former recruiters.

MSMEs are usually concerned about a fairly gray threat, such as former employees who use company data to launch rival businesses or take jobs with competitors and steal company customers. But in terms of business damage, it's still far below the list.

If ex-employees have access to a customer database containing personal data, all they can do is leak it to a public domain or sell it on the dark web.

For starters, it will damage your business reputation. Second, it could harm your customers, who may take legal action due to leaked personal data. Third, you can receive large and heavy fines from regulators.

The final loss of course depends on the laws of the country you operate on, but there is a growing trend around the world to tighten penalties for this kind of leakage.

Some problems are not the result of the cunning plans of former employees, or even direct leaks. A former employee might not even remember that they had that access.

However, routine checks by the same regulator may reveal that there are people who are not authorized to have access to classified information, so that they will still result in fines.

Most actions to combat data leakage through ex-employees' accounts are organizational. Thus, we suggest: