Can an Employee Identity Protection Benefit Reduce Corporate Risk?

Offering employees identity protection has many benefits, but not all of the perks are obvious. A prime example of this is the benefit’s ability to reduce corporate risk. An identity protection benefit accomplishes this in two core ways: 1) it can reduce the risks associated with data breaches and identity theft, and 2) the benefit bolsters corporate security.

Let’s take a closer look at each element.

Identity protection can reduce the risks associated with data breaches and identity theft

When a company experiences a data breach, the associated costs can be astronomical. However, identity protection can help a company better navigate the fallout. Here are a few examples of how.

Lower the risk of regulatory fines and reduce potential litigation

It’s bad enough when a company fails to protect their employees, but it’s far worse when an employer blatantly disregards the importance of safeguarding their employee data. If an employer’s behavior is determined to be negligent, they won’t just be dealing with a PR nightmare — they can expect significant regulatory fines and a sea of expensive and seemingly unending litigation.

The good news is that employers can send a strong message to their employees — as well as to courts and governing agencies — by proactively offering employees identity protection before a breach occurs.

Protect your company from reputational damage

In addition to the legal courts mentioned in the previous section, there’s another court your company must contend with: the Court of Public Opinion. Although it may not have the same jurisdiction as the U.S. legal system, it does possess a far-reaching power capable of destroying your business.

In today’s digital age, a business’ reputation is one of the clearest indications of its livelihood. Take the following stats for example:

• When humans have a positive shopping experience, they will share it with three people — if the experience is a negative one, they’ll share it with at least 10

• A company with a bad reputation must spend at least 10 percent more to attract the same level of talent as their peers, and nearly half of all applicants will reject the job offer regardless of the salary increase

• 90 percent of customers read online reviews before visiting a business

For even more information about how identity protection can save your company money, you can check out our blog, HR Can Prevent These 4 Major Costs by Protecting Employees’ Identities.

Identity protection bolsters corporate security

One of the best ways identity theft protection can reduce organizational risk is by bolstering corporate security! We’ll cover just a few of the ways it accomplishes this below, but you can discover more ways identity protection improves security here.

Also, please keep in mind that the following features we discuss come standard with every PrivacyArmor account. However, identity protection providers vary greatly in the services they offer. You’ll need to verify coverage details with your provider or any provider you might be considering.

Monitors the dark web for company credit cards, usernames, and passwords

A quality identity protection benefit can also monitor the dark web for the appearance of an employee’s credit cards — including any corporate cards that might be in their possession. As soon as the credit card numbers are identified, the identity protection provider should immediately alert the employee and work with them to correct the issue.

In addition to monitoring the dark web for employee credit cards, an identity protection benefit should also scour the deep web for any usernames and passwords that an employee indicates in their portal. This can play a critical role in safeguarding your organization from cybercriminals, as users frequently repeat usernames and passwords.

Protects an employee’s social media accounts

By safeguarding an employee’s social media accounts, an identity protection benefit also protects their business. That’s because cybercriminals can use an exploited social media account to cause a world of harm to a victim’s employer. When an identity thief gains access to an employee’s account, they can phish the victim’s co-workers, defame their employer, and defraud your organization’s partners, clients, and customers.

A quality identity protection benefit will greatly reduce these risks by alerting users of any suspicious activity in near-real time and working hand in hand with your employee to resolve the issue.

Next steps

If you’d like to discover the best way to protect both your employees and the company bottom line, you can download our complimentary ebook, The HR Guide to Employee Data Protection and Identity Theft Prevention.

Are you considering offering an identity protection benefit or think we can answer a specific question you may have? That’s great; we’d love to help. You can contact us anytime!