Leverage HR To Address Risk Of Data Breach

For all the paranoia about organized hackers, foreign and domestic, in fact most data-breach problems are the result of negligent and malicious employees. In a Today’s General Counsel column, Littler Mendelson attorney Philip L. Gordon looks at how companies can marshal their HR departments and in-house attorneys to address the issue, through such things as employee screenings, training, confidentiality agreements, employee recognition for jobs well done, and with good exit interviews. Many organizations, Gordon writes, fail to take advantage of one of the most cost-effective ways there is to reduce the risk of a data breach, “namely leveraging the organization’s human resources professionals and in-house employment counsel to enhance information security.”