When an employee leaves a company, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, it is crucial to revoke their access to company applications, data, and systems. Failure to do so can lead to serious security breaches, as highlighted by the case of an ex-employee of Microsoft’s Nuance Communications. This former worker retained access to sensitive Geisinger healthcare patient data, leading to a breach affecting over 1 million individuals. This incident underscores the risks businesses face when they do not have a robust offboarding strategy.
In today’s digital workplace, employees have access to various systems, including cloud-based applications, internal databases, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and proprietary platforms. If even one of these access points is overlooked during offboarding, a company can be exposed to data theft, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties. Many organizations underestimate the complexity of de-provisioning access across multiple systems, leaving gaps that former employees can exploit, either maliciously or unintentionally.
