A Glossary of Essential Terms: Cloud & SaaS Security for HR & Recruiting Professionals
In today’s digital landscape, HR and recruiting professionals rely heavily on cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, from applicant tracking systems (ATS) to CRM solutions like Keap. While these tools offer immense efficiency, they also introduce unique security considerations for sensitive candidate and employee data. Understanding the foundational concepts of cloud and SaaS security isn’t just for IT teams anymore; it’s a critical skill for anyone managing personal information. This glossary provides clear, actionable definitions of key terms, helping you navigate the complexities of data protection and maintain compliance in your daily operations.
SaaS (Software as a Service)
SaaS refers to a software distribution model where a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the internet. Instead of installing software locally, users access it via a web browser, paying a subscription fee. For HR and recruiting, this includes platforms like Keap, applicant tracking systems, HRIS, and payroll software. The security implications for HR are significant because sensitive data (e.g., candidate resumes, personal employee information, compensation details) is stored and managed by the SaaS vendor. HR professionals must understand that while the vendor handles infrastructure security, data privacy and responsible usage remain a shared responsibility, requiring careful consideration of vendor agreements and data handling practices.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet (“the cloud”). Instead of owning your computing infrastructure, you can access services from a cloud provider like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure. For HR, cloud computing is the backbone of most modern HR tech, enabling scalable access to tools like Keap without the need for on-premise servers. While cloud providers invest heavily in security, the “shared responsibility model” dictates that HR teams are responsible for securing their data within these environments, ensuring proper configurations, access controls, and understanding the data’s lifecycle.
Data Security
Data security encompasses the measures taken to prevent unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of information. In HR, this is paramount, as you handle Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and financial details. Robust data security protocols are essential to protect against breaches, theft, and misuse, which could lead to severe reputational damage, legal penalties, and loss of trust. For Keap users, this means not only trusting Keap’s infrastructure security but also implementing strong user authentication, regular data backups, and secure data transfer practices to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of your valuable contact and campaign data.
Data Privacy
Data privacy refers to the individual’s right to control the collection, storage, and dissemination of their personal information. It’s about respecting the choices individuals make about who can access their data and for what purpose. For HR and recruiting, data privacy directly impacts how you handle applications, employee records, and communications. Compliance with regulations like GDPR (Europe) or CCPA (California) is crucial. When using platforms like Keap, HR must ensure their data collection practices, consent mechanisms, and data retention policies align with privacy laws and the expectations of candidates and employees. This involves transparent communication and allowing individuals to exercise their data rights.
Encryption
Encryption is the process of converting information or data into a code to prevent unauthorized access. Data is “encrypted” using an algorithm and a key, making it unreadable without the correct decryption key. In the context of SaaS and cloud security, encryption is vital for protecting data both “at rest” (when stored on servers) and “in transit” (when being sent over networks). For HR professionals using Keap or other cloud HR systems, encryption ensures that sensitive candidate and employee data is protected even if intercepted or accessed by unauthorized parties. It’s a fundamental layer of defense against data breaches and a key component of compliance with privacy regulations.
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 often requires something you know (password), something you have (phone, token), and/or something you are (fingerprint, facial scan). For HR and recruiting professionals, enabling MFA on all SaaS platforms, including Keap, is a non-negotiable best practice. It significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data, even if a password is stolen or compromised, adding a critical layer of defense against phishing and credential stuffing attacks that frequently target employee accounts.
Access Control
Access control is a security technique that regulates who or what can view or use resources in a computing environment. It involves identifying users and their permissions, ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to specific data, systems, or functionalities. For HR, robust access control within platforms like Keap, ATS, and HRIS is essential. This means granting access only on a “need-to-know” basis—for instance, a recruiter might access candidate profiles, but not payroll data. Properly configured access controls minimize the risk of internal data breaches, ensure compliance with data privacy regulations, and prevent unauthorized modifications to critical HR information.
Compliance
Compliance, in the context of cloud and SaaS security, refers to adhering to specific laws, regulations, industry standards, or internal policies related to data protection and privacy. This can include regulations like GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA (if applicable to health-related data within HR), or internal company security policies. For HR and recruiting teams using Keap, ensuring compliance means understanding how these rules apply to candidate and employee data stored and processed by the platform. It involves reviewing vendor security certifications, conducting due diligence, and establishing internal processes for data handling, consent management, and breach notification to avoid legal penalties and reputational damage.
Data Backup & Recovery
Data backup involves creating copies of data that can be used to restore the original data after a data loss event, while data recovery is the process of restoring that lost or corrupted data from the backups. For HR, protecting essential candidate and employee data, including that stored in Keap, is vital. Losing this data due to system failure, human error, or a cyberattack can cripple operations and lead to non-compliance. While SaaS providers like Keap typically manage infrastructure backups, HR teams should understand their vendor’s backup policies and consider additional strategies, such as sandbox environments or third-party backup solutions, to ensure business continuity and quick data restoration in a crisis.
Vendor Security Assessment
A Vendor Security Assessment is the process of evaluating the security posture and practices of third-party service providers, especially those handling sensitive data. For HR and recruiting, this is critical when selecting and managing SaaS platforms like Keap, ATS, or background check services. It involves scrutinizing a vendor’s data encryption methods, access controls, incident response plans, compliance certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2), and data residency policies. Conducting thorough assessments helps HR mitigate supply chain risks, ensures that vendor security aligns with internal standards and regulatory requirements, and protects sensitive candidate and employee information from external vulnerabilities.
Phishing/Social Engineering
Phishing and social engineering are deceptive tactics used by cybercriminals to manipulate individuals into divulging sensitive information (like passwords or Keap login credentials) or performing actions (like clicking malicious links) that compromise security. Phishing specifically uses fraudulent emails or messages impersonating trusted entities. For HR and recruiting, these attacks are particularly dangerous because you often handle sensitive candidate and employee data and interact with many external parties. Training your team to recognize and report phishing attempts is crucial. A successful phishing attack could grant attackers access to Keap, leading to data breaches or even compromising the entire HR system.
Zero-Trust Security
Zero-Trust Security is a cybersecurity model that operates on the principle “never trust, always verify.” Instead of assuming everything inside a corporate network is safe, it requires strict identity verification for every person and device attempting to access resources, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the network perimeter. For HR professionals, applying zero-trust principles means implementing granular access controls for Keap and other HR systems, continuously monitoring user activity, and verifying the legitimacy of every access request. This approach minimizes the risk of lateral movement for attackers and provides a more robust defense against internal threats and sophisticated external attacks, protecting sensitive HR data.
Data Residency
Data residency refers to the physical or geographical location where an organization stores its data. This concept is increasingly important for HR and recruiting, especially for global companies or those operating across different regulatory jurisdictions. Compliance with data protection laws like GDPR often dictates that certain personal data of EU citizens must be processed and stored within the EU. When selecting SaaS providers like Keap, HR professionals must understand where the vendor stores their data and whether those locations align with legal and regulatory requirements applicable to their candidate and employee information. Misunderstanding data residency can lead to significant compliance violations.
API Security
API (Application Programming Interface) security involves protecting the interfaces that allow different software applications to communicate with each other. For HR and recruiting, APIs are crucial for integrating various tools, such as connecting your ATS with Keap, a background check service, or a payroll system. Securing these APIs is paramount to prevent unauthorized access to data flowing between systems. This includes using strong authentication (like OAuth), encryption, and careful management of API keys and tokens. A compromised API can create a vulnerability, allowing attackers to intercept or manipulate sensitive HR data as it moves between integrated platforms.
Incident Response Plan
An Incident Response Plan (IRP) is a documented set of procedures for identifying, analyzing, containing, eradicating, recovering from, and learning from cybersecurity incidents, such as data breaches or system outages. For HR and recruiting, having a clear IRP is critical, especially when dealing with sensitive candidate and employee data managed in SaaS platforms like Keap. An effective plan ensures a swift and coordinated response to security incidents, minimizing damage, facilitating recovery, and helping meet regulatory notification requirements. HR professionals should be aware of the company’s IRP and understand their role in reporting potential incidents and assisting with data-related aspects of the response.
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