5 Features You Need in a Secure Time and Payroll System

In recent years, there has been a definitive shift towards cloud-based time tracking solutions to capture and process the time data needed for critical business functions such as payroll, resource management, billing, and more. However, as recent events show, business leaders and executives need to acknowledge the seriousness of cyberattacks and look for ways to reinforce their cybersecurity around these digital assets. 

With digital transformation initiatives on the rise, more and more data is being created, transferred, transformed and stored every single day. Data breaches have also become bigger and more complex as cyberattackers exploit the increasing dependency on data and technology by governments, corporations, and individuals alike. For a time tracking platform, a breach can potentially shut down time and attendance, payroll, and other functions in an organization, leaving them and their employees in a very tricky situation.

Must-Have Security Features for Reliable Payroll and Time Tracking 

Recent research has shown that many organizations still have data and systems left unprotected, making them highly vulnerable to breaches and other forms of cyberattacks. To successfully fight against these attacks, organizations must prioritize cybersecurity awareness and implement best practices for preventing attacks and securing their time and payroll data. This is more relevant than ever as companies begin to move to remote working and incorporate more cloud-based platforms. 

Therefore, organizations need to look for a partner that not only solves their challenges in time tracking and payroll but also proactively ensures the safety and security of their data. Here are some of the features to look out for when evaluating time tracking solutions for attendance and payroll. 

1. Data Security Protocols

When choosing a cloud-based time and attendance solution for processing payroll, you are ultimately going to have to trust the vendor to store your data. Therefore it is imperative that you check what data security protocols are in place for the safety of that information. Ensure that the data is stored securely and separated from the vendor’s own data and other clients’ data through proper control mechanisms. This ensures that your data won’t be compromised even if the vendor is breached. Features such as automatic backups, firewalls, automated timeouts, 24×7 monitoring are a few you must look out for. 

2. Disaster Recovery Protocols

It is impossible to guarantee against breaches and hacks in today’s interconnected world. Therefore, the next best option is to ensure that your time management vendor has a solid disaster recovery plan in place. These protocols can help you get back access to your data as soon as possible when mishaps occur. The primary idea here is to ensure that you are never without the time and attendance data you need for vital functions such as payroll and billing. The exact range of features can vary but typically include systematic data backups, redundancies, etc.

3. Encryption Mechanisms

Encryption is one of the fundamental features you need in any cloud-based solution. Your vendor must secure your time and payroll data through robust encryption protocols at all times. This includes when the data is at rest, for any backups of the data and even when it is being transmitted between systems. Encryption can prevent unauthorized access of your data, ensuring only you are able to use and modify the data. 

4. Access Controls

For cloud-based software, the data is kept in secure servers, the exact locations of which may not even be given to you. Good vendors will even go the extra mile to maintain backups across multiple server locations to support disaster recovery and for better security. However, you should ask the vendor about access controls to those datacenters. Ensure that no unauthorized party including the vendor’s own employees is able to gain access to the data, either physically or virtually.

5. Industry Data Protection Certifications and Audits

When evaluating vendors to track time for payroll, check whether they have certifications on security compliance and data protection standards according to the applicable statutory regulations. These certifications denote that the vendor has passed strict requirements in terms of keeping data secure and safe while having the necessary protocols in place to prevent and recover from breaches. Some of the most widely recognized certifications include FedRAMP, SSAE18, and ISO 27001.

How Replicon Prioritizes Data Security

With 25+ years of experience in time tracking, at Replicon, we know how critical time and payroll data is for your organization. That is why we make it a priority to ensure that our platform is completely secure and accessible at all times from any location. 

We have a global operations team staffing our fully-redundant multi-location cloud capabilities with 24/7/365 monitoring. With weekly upgrades, hassle-free maintenance, and world-class security features like SSL encryption and enterprise-grade firewalls, Replicon’s solutions are among the most reliable and secure in the industry. Here is how we do it.

Replicon Complies with Industry-leading Certifications

We go the extra mile with our audits and certifications to ensure that your time, payroll, and project data remains secure and protected at all times. 

• FedRAMP Compliance: FedRAMP delivers a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services used by US government departments and agencies.
• SSAE 18 Compliance: SSAE 18 is the de-facto industry certification for all service providers in the United States. Replicon undergoes bi-annual SSAE 18 (SOC 1 and SOC 2) audits.
• GDPR Compliance: Replicon follows all GDPR rules to ensure privacy and security of client data.
• ISO/IEC 27001 Compliance: This internationally renowned security certification underlines our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of internal security.

Replicon Offers World Class Cloud Security

To keep your data secure, Replicon leverages a fully-redundant cloud architecture, with built-in intrusion detection and prevention capabilities. We completely encrypt all customer data to prevent data leaks while leveraging role-based data visibility and permissibility models that ensure maximum data security administration and governance. To ensure our network integrity, we run bi-annual penetration tests. 

Our comprehensive disaster recovery processes includes keeping data backups across multiple data centers with redundancies to allow easy recoverability when needed. Rest assured that you will have access to your data 24/7 even if one location becomes inoperable. 

Here are just a few of the controls we take to protect and safeguard your time and payroll data.

Application and Database Security

• Unique non-predictable session ID/Tokens for access control
• Database and SQL schema partitioned by customer company ID for isolation
• Configurable session timeouts
• Role-based user access to limit admission to specific modules within the application
• Passwords are stored with S-Crypt one-way hash
• Restricted database access to prevent unauthorized use
• Encryption for even data at rest

Network and Transmission Security

• Corporate/Cloud network isolation ensures complete security
• Redundant stateful firewalls to separate our application from external traffic
• Intrusion detection & prevention of virus transmission
• Network monitoring to enhance performance
• SSO, SAML, OAuth & MFA for authentication & authorization
• 256-bit TLS encryption to encrypt and decrypt data
• TLS 2048-bit certificate

Datacenter Security

• 24×7 onsite physical security and video surveillance 
• Access control and escorted entry for authorized personnel only
• No access provided even to Replicon personnel

Disaster Recovery

• Identical facilities, mirrored transactions, and automatic failover
• Daily and weekly system backups (scheduled and incremental)
• Regularly scheduled tests to ensure recoverability of all backup data

At Replicon, we make it a priority to use robust infrastructure technology and processes to maintain the safety, security, and integrity of your organization’s data. Whether you use our time tracking solution for payroll, our time and attendance solution, or our professional services automation software, you can rest assured that your data is in good hands.

To learn more about how Replicon keeps your data safe and secure, talk to our experts now.