Kroll Fraud Solutions Blog – A Dialogue on Data Security

In our last post, we discussed the data breach threat that vendor employees, contract workers and temporary personnel can pose to your organization. We also examined a couple of initial steps your organization can take, by creating an extended workforce background screening program, to address this issue. There are some additional actions you can execute to help deliver a successful screening program for vendor, temporary and contractor populations.

1. Dispel common fears.

2. Identify the program owner.

3. Define your policy.

It’s an unfortunate reality that many data breaches are caused by malicious insiders. A robust background screening program for your own employees is a critical component to better managing this dangerous risk to your organization. Insider threats can, however, come from sources other than your own employees – consider the vendor personnel and temporary workers who have access to your facilities, data and assets.

According to the 2010 HireRight Employment Screening Benchmarking Report, only about 35 percent of organizations perform background checks on these individuals, representing a critical security risk.