- [Narrator] Every employee eventually leaves
an organization for one reason or another.
In the happiest case, they're retiring
after years of successful employment.
In other cases, they're voluntarily leaving
because they found a more attractive position elsewhere.
Sometimes, however, the termination
is on less positive grounds,
and the employee is being forced out of the organization
through layoffs or firing.
No matter the reason, it's very important
that security teams play a role
in the employee termination process.
Organizations should do everything they can
to make an employee's separation as pleasant as possible
given the circumstances.
One way to do this is through an exit interview,
usually conducted by a senior manager
or a member of the human resources department.
Exit interviewers are used to gather information
about the employee's experience at the company
and wish them well in their future endeavors.
Exit interviewers are also a useful time
to gently remind the employee
about his or her responsibilities
under their non-disclosure agreement,
and that the employee must continue
to protect confidential information
even after leaving the organization.
It's a little bit tricky to do this well
because you don't want to offend the employee,
but you do want to offer a reminder.
One good way is to do this is by saying something like,
"And, as you know, your non-disclosure agreement
"will remain in place even after you leave us.
"If you ever have any questions
"about the types of information covered by that agreement,
"please feel free to give us a call.
"We'd be happy to help you sort it out."
Organizations should also carefully think through
when they revoke access to information and systems.
In the case of a voluntarily separation,
this is usually easy,
and the employee's access is revoked
at the end of his or her last day of employment.
In the case of an involuntary separation,
things can get a little trickier.
If the employee is being terminated immediately,
the likelihood of a revenge attack becomes higher.
In those cases, organizations should cut off access
at the same time as the employee is being notified
of his or her termination.
If you cut off access too early,
you run the risk of alerting the employee to the firing.
If you do it too late, the employee may gain access
to systems after the termination meeting.
Finally, don't forget to retrieve
all of the organization's property
that's in the employee's possession.
This includes keys, access badges,
laptops and mobile devices, and paper and electronic files.
If you don't retrieve assets
on the last day of employment,
your likelihood of ever retrieving them is low.