Why security of your payroll is so important

Imagine if the integrity of your company’s payroll was compromised by cyber-criminals? A security break could produce dire consequences for both your business and your payroll provider. iPayroll managing director Martin Gleeson explains the steps his company has taken to maintain the highest level of payroll security possible.

The security of customer data and IT systems remains a major priority for iPayroll.  

With the global rise in cyber-crime, cyber security will continue to be a major risk for all business owners. To address this risk iPayroll has released a two-factor authentication (2FA) feature which is now available for all their customers.  

Just across the Tasman the Australian Tax Office has already made 2FA mandatory for all payroll providers. iPayroll managing director Martin Gleeson says all their Australian customers, using their Australian payroll system, CloudPayroll, are now covered under this requirement. “They’ve adopted multifactor authentication quickly. As a result, there has been a dramatic reduction in customers being exposed to fraud or data breaches.” 

iPayroll has mandated 2FA to be used for all internal staff in both New Zealand and Australia.  In addition, all new customers in New Zealand need to enable 2FA before they ‘go live’ and the payroll provider is progressively moving its existing customer base over to 2FA.

“We strongly recommend all organisations look at enabling multifactor authentication to all core business systems, not just payroll, as soon as possible as this significantly reduces the risk to their businesses,” advises Gleeson. 

iPayroll has already had examples of customers’ private email accounts being compromised – providing ‘back door entry’ to otherwise secure systems, and enabling password resets to be done by cyber-criminals.  

Enabling 2FA significantly reduces these risks.

Awareness training 

As well as ensuring that your software providers have solid security features, such as 2FA, in place it is equally important to ensure they have security policies and technical controls documented, and they invest in the education of staff and employees on how to be safe online. iPayroll has recently completed cyber-security awareness training for all of its staff.  

Important aspects to consider include password management, device management, data management, processing electronic communications, establishing identity and working with external parties. 

Easy user interface

Because iPayroll services businesses of all sizes up to 1,000 employees, and from all industry sectors, not only has it introduced increased security with 2FA it has also ensured its user interface has been designed to make navigation intuitive, easy to use and time-saving. 

“Clients have tools for HR functionality, document storage in the cloud, leave projections, top-up tools, and many others – all at no additional cost as they form part of iPayroll’s core system,” explains Gleeson. 

“We pride ourselves on the calibre of our products and services though our highly trained and friendly support team who are available on the phone, or by email if you prefer.” 

When choosing a payroll provider, his advice is to look for value – not just the cheapest price. Often the difference is just the equivalent of a cup of coffee per week.

“Not all payroll providers are created equal.”

ISO accreditation

iPayroll is currently working on attaining ISO27001 accreditation in the first half of 2020.  

The payroll provider believes the rigor and additional security disciplines this requires to its core business processes will be a real competitive advantage for iPayroll and CloudPayroll operating in the trans-Tasman payroll sector.    

www.ipayroll.co.nz