A Glossary of Key Terms in Cybersecurity & Threat-Specific Disaster Recovery for HR & Recruiting Professionals

In today’s interconnected professional landscape, HR and recruiting teams are increasingly at the forefront of managing sensitive personal data—from candidate resumes and employee records to payroll and performance evaluations. This critical data makes HR systems a prime target for cyber threats. Understanding the fundamental terminology surrounding cybersecurity and disaster recovery isn’t just for IT anymore; it’s essential for safeguarding your organization’s most valuable assets: its people and their information. This glossary provides crucial definitions, tailored to help HR and recruiting professionals navigate the complex world of digital threats and resilience, emphasizing practical applications in automation and data management.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity encompasses the body of technologies, processes, and practices designed to protect networks, devices, programs, and data from attack, damage, or unauthorized access. For HR and recruiting, this means securing applicant tracking systems (ATS), human resource information systems (HRIS), payroll data, and employee confidential files from breaches. Robust cybersecurity practices are vital for maintaining trust with candidates and employees, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations, and preventing significant operational disruptions. Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for HR platforms or automating data encryption for sensitive documents are direct applications within the HR tech stack.

Threat Landscape

The threat landscape refers to the sum of potential risks and vulnerabilities that an organization faces in its digital environment. For HR and recruiting, this includes phishing attempts targeting recruiters with malicious links in resumes, ransomware attacks on HRIS databases, or insider threats involving unauthorized access to employee data. Understanding this landscape allows HR to proactively implement security awareness training for staff, reinforce data access controls, and stay informed about emerging attack vectors that specifically target human resources functions, especially when leveraging automation tools that might connect various data sources.

Data Breach

A data breach occurs when sensitive, protected, or confidential data is accessed or disclosed without authorization. For HR, a data breach could expose employee Social Security numbers, health information, salary details, or even proprietary company data shared in employee files. Such an event carries severe consequences, including hefty regulatory fines (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), reputational damage, and loss of trust. Automating compliance checks and secure data handling procedures, such as redacting sensitive information after a specific retention period, are crucial for minimizing the impact and likelihood of a data breach.

Disaster Recovery (DR)

Disaster Recovery (DR) is a set of policies, tools, and procedures that enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or human-induced disaster. In the HR context, DR planning ensures that critical systems like payroll, HRIS, and ATS can be restored swiftly after an outage caused by hardware failure, cyberattack, or natural calamity. This involves having reliable backups of all HR data, establishing clear recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO), and regularly testing these plans to ensure business continuity, especially for automation workflows reliant on these systems.

Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) is a comprehensive strategy for maintaining essential business functions during and after a significant disruption. While DR focuses on technology, BCP includes broader operational aspects. For HR, BCP involves defining critical HR functions (e.g., payroll processing, emergency communication, essential hiring), identifying personnel needed to perform these functions, and establishing alternative work arrangements (e.g., remote work protocols) to keep the organization running. HR plays a pivotal role in BCP by managing emergency contact information, developing crisis communication plans for employees, and ensuring staff can access critical systems securely from alternative locations, often facilitated by automated communication platforms.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts a victim’s files, making them inaccessible, and then demands a ransom payment, typically in cryptocurrency, for their decryption. HR departments are vulnerable targets due to the vast amounts of sensitive employee and candidate data they manage. A ransomware attack can completely paralyze hiring, payroll, and HR operations, leading to significant financial losses and reputational damage. Robust backup strategies, employee training on recognizing phishing attempts (a common vector for ransomware), and strong endpoint protection are vital defenses, often managed or alerted through automated security systems.

Phishing

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack where malicious actors impersonate a trusted entity (e.g., a colleague, a bank, a reputable service) to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, or financial details. HR and recruiting professionals are frequently targeted with phishing emails disguised as job applications, internal requests, or vendor communications, designed to gain access to company systems. Employee awareness training, email filtering solutions, and multi-factor authentication are key defenses. Automation can also help by flagging suspicious email patterns or attachments before they reach HR staff.

Social Engineering

Social engineering refers to the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. Unlike technical hacks, social engineering preys on human psychology, exploiting trust, curiosity, or fear. For HR, this could involve attackers impersonating an executive to request sensitive employee data or tricking a new hire into clicking a malicious link. Training HR staff to recognize manipulative tactics, verifying requests through established channels, and implementing strong internal communication protocols are crucial. This understanding also extends to automating processes, ensuring human checks are still in place where social vulnerabilities are highest.

Compliance (e.g., GDPR, CCPA)

Compliance refers to adhering to established laws, regulations, guidelines, and specifications related to data privacy and security. For HR, this includes navigating complex regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and various industry-specific data handling standards. Non-compliance can result in significant fines and legal repercussions. HR must ensure that employee and candidate data is collected, stored, processed, and disposed of securely and ethically, with consent where required. Automation can play a key role in managing data retention policies and ensuring privacy by design in HR tech systems.

Data Redundancy

Data redundancy involves storing the same piece of data in multiple places within a system to protect against data loss in the event of hardware failure or corruption. For HR, ensuring data redundancy for critical systems like CRM, ATS, and HRIS means that even if one server fails, an identical copy of the data is immediately available on another server, minimizing downtime and data loss. This is a foundational element of any robust disaster recovery strategy, often achieved through automated replication and synchronization across different storage devices or cloud environments.

Backup and Restore

Backup and restore refers to the process of copying data to a separate storage location (backup) and then retrieving and reinstalling that data in the event of data loss or corruption (restore). For HR, regular and verified backups of all critical employee and candidate data are non-negotiable. This includes everything from payroll records to performance reviews and recruitment pipelines. Automated backup solutions, combined with a clear understanding of recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO), are essential to minimize disruption and ensure data integrity following a system failure or cyberattack.

Incident Response Plan (IRP)

An Incident Response Plan (IRP) is a documented set of procedures for detecting, responding to, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents. For HR, this plan would outline who to notify in case of a data breach, how to isolate compromised systems, how to communicate with affected employees or candidates, and the steps for forensic analysis and post-incident review. HR’s role is critical in managing the human element of an incident, including employee communications, legal notifications, and supporting affected individuals. Automation can trigger alerts and initiate response protocols when an incident is detected.

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability management is the continuous process of identifying, assessing, and remediating security weaknesses (vulnerabilities) in an organization’s systems, applications, and networks. For HR, this means regularly auditing the security of ATS, HRIS, and other HR tech platforms, applying security patches, and configuring systems securely. Proactive vulnerability management helps prevent exploits before they occur, protecting sensitive employee data from known weaknesses. Automated scanning tools can help identify vulnerabilities, ensuring that critical HR applications remain secure against evolving threats.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a security system that requires users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to an application, account, or system. Instead of just a password, MFA might require a password plus a code sent to a mobile phone or a biometric scan. For HR and recruiting professionals accessing sensitive data, MFA adds a critical layer of security, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access even if a password is stolen through phishing or other means. Implementing MFA across all HR-related platforms is a fundamental cybersecurity best practice that can be automated at the system level.

Data Minimization

Data minimization is a principle that states organizations should only collect, process, and retain the minimum amount of personal data necessary to achieve a specific purpose. For HR and recruiting, this means not collecting unnecessary information from candidates or employees, securely disposing of data once its purpose has been served (e.g., deleting resumes of unsuccessful candidates after a set period), and ensuring data retention policies are enforced. This practice not only reduces the “attack surface” for cyber threats but also helps ensure compliance with privacy regulations. Automation can be used to set up automated data deletion or archival processes, adhering to compliance standards.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: HR & Recruiting CRM Data Disaster Recovery Playbook: Keap & High Level Edition