With more than 700 million records being compromised so far in 2015 (causing an estimated $400 million in damage), cybersecurity should be at the forefront of every business owner’s mind. Even as corporate IT departments scramble to beef up their defenses, they should remain cognizant that the biggest security hole for any organization is its people. As a result, solid background screening is now the single most important security measure company owners can take to protect their firms.
In a recent cybersecurity survey of 337 business leaders, 57 percent of respondents stated that pre-employment background screening was “extremely important” as a security control against cyber threats. Furthermore, an astounding 98 percent of respondents agreed that background screening of new employees was at least “somewhat important” to reduce security risks. Both anti-malware and physical security and access controls ranked lower, at 53 percent and 39 percent, respectively.
Business professionals also value periodic background checks on existing employees, with 36 percent saying the process is either “very important” or “extremely important.” An equal number—35 percent— believe the process is “somewhat important.” In perhaps the greatest irony, a majority of these same professionals (61 percent) indicated that background “rescreens” are never conducted at their workplace.
For more information or to discuss an evaluation of your company’s current screening processes, we invite you to give us a call at (765) 932-5917.