With remote working on the rise, identity protection is a must

Many employees view working from home as a perk. After all, there’s no commute, a relaxed dress code, and often a more flexible schedule. Unfortunately, though, a remote workforce could also open the door to cybersecurity risks. 

In this post, we’ll take a look at how cyberattacks can lead to a distracted workforce — plus tips for how you can leverage our identity-theft protection to minimize those effects. 

Identity theft can be stressful — and distracting 

According to a 2021 report from research firm Javelin, the average financial loss associated with identity theft is more than $1,300. In addition, consider the valuable time spent resolving fraud: identity theft can take up to 200 hours or more to remedy.

It’s no wonder that employees struggling with identity theft feel a strain. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s Aftermath Report, a survey of identity theft victims found that:

• 86.7 percent reported feeling stressed

• 36.7 percent reported panic attacks

• 90 percent reported sleep disturbances

Identity theft can lead to dips in productivity

The process of remediating identity theft can have a direct impact on a person’s workday. During the recovery process, many phone calls may need to take place during business hours, for example. Sick time or personal leave might be taken that otherwise would not have been. And in some cases, overwhelmed employees may quit or be terminated due to missed time, in which case the company loses productivity through the rehiring and retraining process.

To put it simply, workers stressed by identity theft may be off their game. 

Stress is one indicator of a “distracted” worker, or someone who may not bring their full attention and potential to the workplace. Studies have shown that even brief interruptions can impact productivity and lessen quality of work — so picture the effects of a much larger distraction, like a costly and time-consuming case of identity-theft remediation. 

With Allstate Identity Protection, your employees can stay focused on what they do best 

One of the best ways to prevent identity theft from distracting your workforce is by minimizing its threat to your employees. Here are three ways your HR department can help employees even before a fraud incident takes place:

1. Stay aware of the latest identity theft scams and communicate them to your workforce. For example, circulating examples of different types of trending scams may help your workers avoid the phishing hook. 

2. Share password tips and other best practices for keeping private data safe. Again, training and awareness can provide some defense against identity theft. For example, sharing best practices for creating and storing passwords and encouraging key privacy measures, like two-factor authentication, can help keep employees’ accounts secure. 

3. Offer identity-theft protection as a benefit. Allstate Identity Protection helps your employees safeguard their identities with key features like Credit Monitoring, Social Media Account Takeover Monitoring, and Dark Web Monitoring. With help from bots and human operatives, we alert employees and their family members of suspicious activity that could indicate account takeovers, fraudulent transactions, or stolen personally identifiable information (PII), sometimes before any damage is done. 

If identity theft does occur, here are just a few ways we alleviate the stress — and distraction — that often comes with remediation: 

• Our generous reimbursement policies reduce the financial impact for employees and their families, sometimes bringing out-of-pocket costs to zero. Our product even has contingencies for offering cash advances in cases where tax fraud is holding up a refund.

• We know your employees’ time is valuable. That’s why our Identity Specialists are available around the clock, during the current health crisis and beyond. They’re trained to take care of as much of the paperwork and follow-up as possible so your company’s productivity suffers less.

In these challenging times, it may be more important than ever to support employees with identity theft protection. With Allstate Identity Protection, your workers can focus on staying healthy and productive while we safeguard their privacy and peace of mind.