HR Services and Staffing
Cybersecurity for HR and staffing organizations requires protecting personal data, ATS platforms, and payroll systems, in line with GDPR Article 9. Fake job applications and social engineering make recruiters a prime target.
Sector Challenges We Address
GDPR Article 9: Special categories of personal data
HR and staffing organizations are among the most exposed to GDPR's highest protection tier. Special categories require explicit consent, documented justification, and demonstrable technical safeguards.
What counts as a special category
GDPR Article 9 defines health information, biometric data used for identification, union membership data, and racial or ethnic origin as special categories requiring the highest level of protection. HR and staffing organizations frequently process these categories in employment and recruitment contexts without realizing the full weight of the obligation.
What this means for your systems
Any platform, applicant tracking system, or payroll application that handles special category data requires documented access controls, encryption, data minimization measures, and a completed Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). We test whether those controls exist and actually work.
Where we test
We assess whether your systems store, transmit, or expose special category data beyond its intended scope. Access control misconfiguration and overly broad data sharing with third parties are the most common critical findings in HR platform assessments.
Your accountability obligation
GDPR Article 5(2) requires you to demonstrate compliance, not just achieve it. A documented penetration test with findings and remediation tracking is concrete evidence of your due diligence in protecting special category data, usable in Data Protection Authority investigations.
Attack vectors specific to HR organizations
The HR function sits at the intersection of high-value data and high-volume external contact. That combination creates attack vectors that differ from most other departments.
Weaponized job applications
Attackers submit malicious files disguised as CVs or portfolios. A single click by a recruiter can compromise a workstation and provide lateral movement into your internal network. We test whether your document handling workflows can be abused as an entry point.
Supplier and vendor impersonation
HR organizations work regularly with staffing agencies, background check providers, and payroll processors. Attackers impersonate trusted suppliers to extract candidate data or gain access to integrated systems through social engineering of HR staff who regularly communicate with external parties.
Recruiter targeting and spear phishing
Recruiters are among the most visible employees in any organization. Their public profiles, high email volume, and routine contact with unknown external parties make them a primary target for spear phishing and business email compromise. Swishing delivers structured phishing awareness training designed for high-exposure roles.
Specialized Services
Application Security
Testing of HR platforms, applicant tracking systems, payroll applications, and their integrations with third-party services and identity providers.
GDPR Compliance Testing
Privacy impact assessments and data protection testing focused on how personal and special category data is stored, processed, accessed, and shared across systems.
Access Control and Multi-tenant Review
Assessment of user permissions and data segregation between client accounts. We verify that candidate data from one client cannot be accessed from another tenant.
Social Engineering and Swishing
Phishing simulations, vishing tests, and physical access assessments tailored to the HR context. Swishing provides ongoing gamified phishing awareness for recruitment teams.
Frequently Asked Questions
Protect sensitive HR data
Secure candidate and client information, and reduce the risk of data breaches.