The Hunt

It’s worth your while to run background checks on everyone you consider hiring. You never know what is lurking in someone’s past and how that might impact their on-the-job performance. For certain professionals, however, a background check should be a mandatory condition of employment. Given the nature of their jobs, these professionals are in a unique position to hurt your company. This is especially true for Web security candidates, and here’s why:

IT is Your Greatest Asset

Web security candidates are given more or less unfettered access to your IT infrastructure. That means they can access sensitive data and mission-critical applications at will. These, more than anything else, are the assets that your company relies on not just to succeed but to operate on a daily basis. If something were to happen to them, either accidentally or intentionally, the results would be catastrophic. A background check can reveal a criminal history involving cyber crime or some other infraction that would raise a red flag. That way you don’t put the keys to the vault right in the hands of the bank robber.

A Breach Can Destroy Your Reputation

Recent high-profile data breaches have revealed how sensitive the public is to this issue. In addition to fines and penalties, many companies lost tens of millions of dollars worth of consumer confidence following a data breach. That’s why it’s so important to work with Web security candidates who are competent and committed enough to prevent a breach before it happens. Background checks serve as an important complement to a resume and cover letter because they reveal how well a candidate’s credentials have functioned in practice. Don’t trust that you have found the right professional for the job until you take a close look into their past.

Turnover Makes You Vulnerable

There are some positions you can wait to fill and some you can’t. Web security requires constant vigilance and action to guard against threats, meaning you can’t go a day/week/month without having someone in this role. If you fail to do a background check, and end up making a bad hire as a result, a hole is likely to open up in your workforce soon. Scrambling to fill it forces you to make another hasty hire, or do business without a guard on watch. In either case, you’re vulnerable. The better strategy is to do the background check and hire for the long term.

What is the state of your Web security team? Are you missing an asset but nervous about making a new hire? Let Artemis Consultants introduce you to candidates who are qualified, committed, and carefully vetted.