Strengthening your employee data security with SaaS systems

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and stressed out by your company’s growth, you’re not alone. Having to switch gears from doing quality work, to sustaining the performance of the overall team, to being a growth-minded leader is no small feat. What if you could quickly and easily implement a solution that immediately freed up some of your time—while maintaining security and compliance? Chances are that sounds about as good as a tall glass of lemonade right now.  

In today’s “moving and shaking” digital landscape, protecting employee data security is critical to the integrity of your business. SaaS can and should be playing a vital role in your security strategy. Whatever you do, do not let anyone tell you that manual HR data tracking is still a sufficient way of doing things. 

But since SaaS solutions store and process vast amounts of sensitive customer data—like financial information and personal data, safeguards are everything. In today’s data-driven universe, data breaches can be a massive disaster for any business, leading to data theft, reputational damage, and financial losses. To name but a few. 

That is why strengthening data security with SaaS is the way to go. SaaS systems can be used to shield sensitive information from cyberthreats and ensure compliance with data protection regulations. In the tech era, this is how you build trust with both employees and clients. SaaS systems can also help fortify your company’s resilience, minimizing the risk of disruptions caused by potential data breaches. And, you know, preserving a little thing known as business continuity. No one wants to compromise on business continuity. 

Really, if you have not already, there is no reason not to beef up employee data security via SaaS systems.  

PurelyHR security offerings:

At PurelyHR, our security offerings are top priority and top quality. Dare to compare our SaaS solutions to other HR solutions (like those housed in manual platforms like Excel)? In 2024, there is not really a comparison to be made. Tracking HR data manually is tedious, time-consuming, and prone to human error—naturally. There is no denying that disconnected platforms and old ways of storing data once played an important role in data management. But without data recovery or backup features, they are a seriously risky move today. 

Without further ado, our robust security offering includes the following: 

Physical security & compliance:

We are proud to show off our bright ’n shiny SOC 2 Type 1 (soon to be Type 2) compliance because it means something. PurelyHR’s information systems and infrastructure are hosted within world-class SOC 2 accredited data centers. Physical security controls at our data centers include 24/7 monitoring, security cameras, visitor logs, and entry requirements. 

We are also compliant with the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standards (PCI DSS 3.2) and can therefore accept or process credit card information securely in accordance with these standards. We re-certify this compliance every year. 

Access controls:

Access to PurelyHR’s technology resources is only permitted via secure connectivity—such as a VPN, or an SSH (Secure Shell). It also requires multi-factor authentication (MFA). Typically, MFA involves something the user knows (like a password) combined with something they have (like a mobile device or security token) and/or something they are (like a fingerprint or facial recognition). This makes it significantly more challenging for malicious actors to gain unauthorized access. Additionally, our password policy bars reuse and requires complexity, expiration, and lockout.  

We also offer Single Sign-On (SSO) wherever desirable. AD FS 2.x is one such option. Put simply, it enables users to access multiple applications or services with a single set of login credentials. Users only need to log in once, and the authenticated session allows them to access various connected systems. SSO enhances user convenience and can improve overall security by reducing the risks associated with managing multiple usernames and passwords. 

As an overarching rule, PurelyHR grants access on an as-needed basis, reviews permissions quarterly, and revokes access within 12 hours of employee termination. 

Vulnerability management:

PurelyHR maintains a documented vulnerability management program. All networks, including test and production environments, are periodically scanned using trusted third-party vendors. Also included are regular scans, identification, and remediation of security vulnerabilities on servers, workstations, network equipment, and applications. Also, critical patches are applied to servers on a priority basis and as appropriate for all other patches.  

Encryption:

We encrypt your data in transit using secure Transport Layer Security (TLS) cryptographic protocols to provide secure communication over a computer network. TLS protocols ensure privacy and data integrity between applications and users on the internet. They also encrypt the data exchanged between systems, preventing unauthorized access and tampering.  

It’s worth mentioning that PurelyHR also pseudo-anonymizes all personal data at rest. Pseudo-anonymization is a data protection technique used to enhance privacy by replacing or modifying personally identifiable information. 

Breach notifications:

Despite best efforts, no method of transmission over the internet and no method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we can’t guarantee perfect security, if PurelyHR learns of a security breach, we notify affected users without undue delay. This way, they can take the appropriate protective steps in as timely a manner as possible.  

We pride ourselves on being 100% committed to keeping our customers fully informed of any matters relevant to their account security. We also provide customers with all information necessary to meet their regulatory reporting obligations. 

Business continuity management:

PurelyHR’s databases use rotating backups. This involves regularly cycling between full and incremental backups. While full backups capture the entire dataset periodically, incremental backups store only the changes made since the last backup. The result is an efficient and comprehensive backup strategy with reduced storage requirements. Backups are stored within the production environment to preserve their confidentiality and integrity and are regularly tested to ensure their availability. 

At the end of the day, SaaS systems are one of the best options out there to secure employee data for SMBs. SaaS can leverage the cloud and has no need to build or maintain its own security infrastructure—that is a lot. It is also always up-to-date, and its security is maintained via patches and other breach-limiting updates.  

At Purely HR, we’ve got your back. Gone are the days of worrying about personally protecting your team’s employee data from theft, breaches, and all manner of other cyberthreats. To recap, our built-in security features include SSO, MFA, SOC 2 Type 1 (soon to be 2!), and PCI compliance to boot. View an unabridged list of our security features here.  

Ready to get started? Consider trying our free 21-day trial on for size. Or, book a demo today to learn more. 

And, as always, if you have specific questions that need answering, feel free to drop us a line. We are more than happy to help—one might say client security is our labor of love.