I agree seasonal employees present cybersecurity risks and must
be properly managed to reduce these risks. The hospitality
industry and hotel operations are two areas in which seasonal
employees are frequent and necessary. A seasonal employee in
the hospitality industry and hotel operations has the potential to
have access to personally identifiable information (PII) as it relates
to the duties they have been hired to perform. A solid onboarding
and integration process must be the first step in reducing
potential seasonal employee cybersecurity risks, (Bonderud, 2016).
When a company has temporary hired help, the employee, may
not be properly trained and accidentally creates a leak or breach
of data. Additionally, a malicious employee may use this
temporary hire status as an excuse to expose information because
they are not committed to the company as a more permanent
employee. As an example, a Front Desk Agent or Call Center
Agent will process a guest’s credit card and billing information
when making reservations, checking in and out, or for any extra
activities during their stay. This temporary employee has the
potential to erroneously or intentionally expose the guest’s PII.
Managers responsible to hiring and managing seasonal employees
should consider onboarding these employees in the same manner
they would for a permanent employee. Additionally, the
managers can have the seasonal employees sign non-disclosure
agreements, pre-established termination dates, system access
restrictions, and incentives for possible permanent hire positions,
(Bonderud, 2016). Additionally, it would be advantageous to have
the managers of these seasonal employees go through the Secure
Computer User training course. This course is designed to offer
training in the areas of data security and threats, how to secure
Operating Systems, monitor internet security, and topics related
to email security. A manager should have a good working
knowledge of basic Information Systems Security Management
(ISSM) to efficiently manage and train these employees, while also
having awareness on how to recognize signs of potential misuse,
threats, vulnerabilities, and breaches.
A manager can show leadership in cybersecurity defenses by
seeking out certifications such as the C|SCU certification.
Additionally, managers can show leadership through developing a
thorough understanding of legal and regulatory compliance
requirements, a comprehensive understanding of physical and
intangible assets, and what the security functions of the
organization are. A manager can contribute to cybersecurity
defenses by holding employees accountable, providing ongoing
training for employees, and incentivizing employees who
contribute to cybersecurity defenses, (Bissell and Ponemon, 2019).
References:
Bonderud, D., Douglas Bonderud Freelance Writer A freelance
writer for three years, Bonderud, D., Writer, F., & A freelance
writer for three years. (2021, August 31).
Seasonal employee
security risks: Present danger, proactive defense
. Security
Intelligence. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from
https://securityintelligence.com/seasonal-employee-security-risks-
present-danger-proactive-defense/
The cost of cybercrime - accenture
. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21,
2022, from https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/pdf-
96/accenture-2019-cost-of-cybercrime-study-final.pdf
