A sure way to guard against identity theft is to turn your employees into “human firewalls” to safeguard against this growing crime.

Start by educating and training employees and asking the right questions.

Who gets to take data home? Who can access data remotely and what data are they allowed to access? Do keys and key cards get surrendered when employment is terminated? Where do you keep sensitive data? How is that data destroyed?

Reinforce the correct ways to handle sensitive data. By enforcing policies and procedures regarding hardware and software, employees are clear about the seriousness of your company’s security issues. Constantly review and revise those procedures.

There are pitfalls everywhere that can result in a security breach. HR professionals have a duty to run all those traps and ensure nothing is getting stolen– either through the front door– or through insecure networks.

You also must keep employees current on how to prevent identity theft because once an employee becomes a victim, productivity drops. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 10-15 million people are victims of identity theft every year. The average identity theft victim spends 330 hours or more attempting to restore his / her identity if it is undetected in 24 months. That time away from work – or on the phone at work — affects your company’s bottom line

This isn’t just an IT issue. It’s an issue for top HR executives to jump in and get in front of data risk issues.

We rarely ever do, but reducing the risk of the unknown can save you time and money.

That’s why comprehensive employment screening is critical when you consider a few startling statistics:

·         2 million new job applicants use stolen credentials annually, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

·         12 percent of identity theft cases are related to employment fraud.

·         Nearly 30 percent to 40 percent of applicants provide altered or fabricated data, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Employment screening should provide critical elements, including:

·         Identity verification and authentication that prevents the use of stolen, altered or fabricated credentials used to hide criminal backgrounds;

·         Names and alias detection that finds alternative names and aliases used by the applicant that might contain criminal records;

·         Comprehensive state and county criminal searches that includes the Sex Offender Registry searches and physical county searches that are based on the applicant’s address history;

·         On-going criminal records monitoring to detect when employees commit new crimes that might pose a threat to your business or other employees and customers.

Some argue that advanced pre-screening is costly.

The U.S. Business Administration says that for every dollar an employer invests in employment screening, “the return on investment ranges from $5 to $16, resulting from improved productivity, reduced absenteeism, lower turnover – and decreased employer liability.”

Invest in your future employees and reap the rewards of candidates who turn into high performers.

Reports state that more than 2 million identity thieves are hired every year by unsuspecting companies, and because of faulty background screenings, criminals have access to millions of dollars worth of confidential information. To help companies improve their background screening processes, TelecomCareers is partnering with my company CSIdentity to provide comprehensive background checks.

Oftentimes criminals secure placement in jobs because of poor screenings. Now businesses are able to find high-caliber job seekers through a process that provides accurate and real-time results.

Businesses can use CSIdentity SAFE^SM to run comprehensive background checks on their current employees or new applicants. CSIdentity SAFE is a Web-based pre-screening application that allows employers to quickly and easily verify and authenticate an applicants’ true identity, determine if their names or dates of birth have been altered, and if they have criminal or sex offender backgrounds under alternate names or aliases.  Additionally, CSIdentity SAFE offers ongoing monitoring of the identity as long as the person is employed.

This process allows businesses to conduct thorough background searches based on more complete and verified data. Additional screenings available include drug testing, employment and education verification services, and department of motor vehicle records searches. Most components of this process provide results to the human resources or other designated manager within an hour.

In conjunction with the Phase 1 launch, CSIdentity and Telecom Careers are kicking off a series of webinars through the Telecom Careers site to introduce CSIdentity SAFE and provide additional information about the pitfalls of standard background screenings. The first webinar is scheduled for Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. EST.  More information about the webinar can be found at www.telecomcareers.net.

It’s hard to know exactly what you’re getting when you hire someone. According to the Web site CareerBuilder.com, one in 10 people lie on their resume. If these presumably professional people are lying, what do you know about the people walking in off the street asking for a job?

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says 30 percent to 40 percent of personal information given to employers is false. As many as 2 million identity thieves are hired each year with stolen credentials. Here are some things to consider when checking on a job applicant.

·         Social Security numbers provide little protection. Criminal checks do not include Social Security numbers.

·         Criminal background checks are done based on name and date of birth. Changing one digit in a date of birth can keep someone from popping up on the radar screen.

·         Bobby Jones could be a serial killer. But Robert, Bob, Rob or Robbie Jones could come across as squeaky clean in a criminal background check.

·         A lot of companies only check for criminal activities in their states or the states where an applicant has listed as having resided. A crime can be committed anywhere, so criminal checks should be conducted nationwide.

·         Employees should continue to be monitored even after they are hired. If you let criminals slip through your screening process, they probably won’t halt their criminal activities just because you hired them. You need to stay on top of what’s happening outside your business.