Protect Company Data After Employees Leave: Everything You Need To Know

The Risks of Unrestricted Corporate Data After Employees Leave

Let's look at the risks before we see how to protect data before an employee exits. 

To begin with, there is a 1 in 3 chance your departing employee will take some company intellectual property with them.  Here’s what can go wrong. 

You open the door for data breaches 

If access to company systems or files is not revoked, departing employees—intentionally or not—could continue accessing sensitive information, such as customer data, financial records, or product blueprints.

Intellectual property theft becomes a possibility 

Though rare, departing employees might take proprietary information to start their ventures or pass it on to competitors. According to one research, 70% of intellectual property theft occurs just within 90 days before an employee’s resignation.

Data impacted could include:

• Source code, designs, or prototypes

• Trade secrets (formulas, processes, etc.) 

• Marketing strategies or customer lists 

There's a higher chance of accidental data leakage now

Most risks don't come from malice. Employees often unknowingly carry sensitive data on personal devices or email accounts, which could fall into the wrong hands without strict controls. 

According to a 2022 report, 

• 36% of surveyed employees said they’ve made mistakes that could result in a potential data breach. 

• Mistakes included sending emails to the wrong people or including an incorrect attachment. 

• 26% of employees even fell for a phishing scam. 

You risk being non-compliant with regulations

Under strict data protection laws, industries face hefty penalties if sensitive information isn’t adequately secured. Employees retaining access to regulated data post-departure could lead to violations, such as unauthorized access to patient records in healthcare settings (HIPAA violation) or client data breaches affecting European customers (GDPR violation).

You lose customer trust for good

A Deloitte survey reveals 73% of consumers would lose trust in a company after a data breach. It proves heavy on the pocket too. 

In 2022, an unhappy Cash App employee stole personal and financial data, impacting over over 8.2 million users. Cash App had to pay over $15 million in settlement, including $2500 payouts to each impacted customer—a vast sum to regain customer trust.

Steps To Protect Company Data When An Employee Leaves

Step #1: Always hand out MDM-enrolled devices to employees

Enroll all employee devices in a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. 

An MDM solution is a centralized software that lets you remotely monitor, manage, secure, and enforce policies across your organizational device fleet. In short, it is the first line of corporate digital defense.

Such a solution maintains an inventory of all company-owned devices. Once enrolled, you can't just manage/track devices; you can also remotely wipe sensitive data in case of device loss or theft. 

Even if your workplace has a BYOD policy, an MDM will give you a secure and partitioned approach to managing corporate data and apps on personal devices. 

Pick an MDM software that supports zero-touch deployment with an automatic policy application system. Kandji, an automation-forward Apple MDM, is one of the best for Apple devices. For other platforms, you cannot go wrong with Okta—an identity and access management solution that integrates with your existing MDM. 

With Workwize, you can ship MDM-enrolled, pre-configured devices to all your employees. This saves time (IT teams don’t need to install an MDM separately on any device) and ensures security from day 1.

Step #2: Implement a data security and protection policy across your organization

A strong security policy lets you know how your organization handles sensitive data and set clear IT and data usage expectations. 

Without one, you're inviting trouble. It should include guidelines for data classification, acceptable use, and exit protocols—bonus points for having employees sign a confidentiality agreement before they start.

Step #3: Ensure employees access only relevant company data

You know that old saying, “Not everyone needs a key to the castle”? 

That’s what role-based access controls (RBAC) are for. Assign permissions based on job roles, not individuals. 

For example, a marketing employee only needs access to finance documents or, say, all your customer data.

The fewer doors someone has a key to, the lower the chances of accidental data breaches. Plus, tracking access becomes way more manageable.

Adopt conditional access policies in your identity management solution so that once an employee's departure is recorded, their credentials are automatically deactivated across all platforms.

Step #4: Recover devices timely from remote employees

When employees leave, their laptops, phones, or USB drives often hold sensitive company data. 

This becomes even trickier for remote employees, as communication hassles, logistics, and distance can complicate timely device returns.

And late or missed device recoveries create gaping vulnerabilities.

Here’s how you can nail this process:

• Create a device return checklist—including laptops, monitors, dongles, and anything else issued. Send this checklist with instructions to departing employees.

• Partner with a device recovery service. 

We recommend Workwize get back equipment back from your employees, no matter where they are. Workwize is a global IT hardware lifecycle management solution that promises a 99% device retrieval rate. We eliminate the hassle of getting equipment back with all communication and shipping handled by us. 

Book a Workwize Demo Now, and see all you can do with Workwizwe.

• Always keep track of your assets. Use IT asset management (ITAM) (we recommend Workwize ) services to tag, monitor, and manage company-issued devices. With Workwize, you know exactly who has what—and what’s overdue.

• Have a backup plan. If someone ghosted their exit interview, ensure you can remotely lock or wipe devices via endpoint management tools. Workwize makes it possible too. You can lock and wipe any device remotely at the click of a button.

Pro Tip: Automate device deactivation as part of offboarding. It’s efficient and prevents lapses in security, especially when dealing with multiple departures simultaneously.

Step #5: Safely erase sensitive data with certified data disposal platforms 

Recovering a device is only half the battle; wiping sensitive data is the other. 

Simply deleting files or formatting drives isn’t enough—data remnants can still be recovered, risking breaches and hefty fines under laws like GDPR or CCPA.

To avoid this, use software that is compliant with standards like NIST 800-88 or ISO 27001. 

Workwize provides automated and certified IT hardware disposition services across the US, Canada, and EU. Here’s what you get:

• Certified data erasure: Proof of data erasure ensures compliance without extra paperwork.

• Global coverage: Worldwide operations and 70+ local warehouses make asset management.

• Real-time tracking: Track assets globally with ITAM services.

• Reselling IT equipment: Maximize value with local evaluations for fair market pricing.

• Eco-friendly disposal: Environmentally responsible recycling aligned with green policies.

Step #5: Prevent employee access from company portals

Failing to cut off an ex-employee’s access to your systems can invite uncalled-for trouble.

Lingering access might lead to accidental breaches—or worse, deliberate misuse. The first step to effectively revoke access is to centralize account management. Use an Identity and Access Management (IAM) tool to view and control all active accounts in one place. 

Once you have your IAM system set up, de-provision it systematically. Start by deactivating accounts for email, project management tools, and cloud storage platforms like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Employees might still have access through third-party integrations or shared credentials. Comb through SSO logs to ensure everything is covered. Even commonly used enterprise tools like Slack or Jira have lingering guest accounts or shared workspaces. Take down access or remove users as needed.

At last, trigger a security sweep. Use monitoring tools to pinpoint any unauthorized logins from old credentials. Set up automatic alerts for failed or unusual login attempts post-offboarding.

Step #6: Create an offboarding checklist

Finally, a structured checklist ensures you don’t miss any step, even during busy transition periods. It also makes it easier for IT admins to manage exits in bulk.

Are you confused what should go in your offboarding checklist? Here are some tasks to give you an idea

• Pre-exit preparations

  • Send a notice to all relevant teams (HR, IT, finance)

  • Schedule final meetings or exit interviews

• Access and asset recovery

  • List all accounts and devices assigned to the employee

  • Elaborate the steps for canceling access and recovering hardware

• Data handover

  • Document where critical data resides

  • Make sure that files and projects are transferred to team members

• Exit formalities

  • Collect non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) or exit documents

  • Issue receipts for returned hardware or tools

Pro Tip: To digitize your checklist, use a task management tool (Trello, Notion, etc.): Automate reminders and status updates to reduce human error and keep everyone accountable.

Read More: 8 Virtual Onboarding Best Practices for IT Teams

What To Watch Out For When Employees Leave

Even the type of departure—resignation, termination, or layoff—influences the risks you face and the signs to watch for. Let’s look at this issue in more detail:

The risks you need to be aware of 

Between 2019 and 2024, the percentage of organizations reporting insider attacks rose from 66% to 76%, highlighting a significant rise in detected insider threats.

Then, even accidental data leakage is more common than you might think. Employees often store files on personal devices and forget to delete company data from their accounts or share documents with unauthorized parties by mistake.

Then, there are rare but deliberate attacks. Employees terminated under contentious circumstances will likely delete files, disrupt systems, or intentionally damage company data.

How risks vary by how employees walk off

• Resignations: Employees leaving voluntarily may copy data for use in a future role, especially if they’re moving to a competitor.

• Layoffs: Emotional distress during layoffs increases accidental or deliberate actions, like unauthorized downloads or sharing of files as "insurance."

• Terminations: Immediate terminations, especially for misconduct, have the highest risk of sabotage. In rare cases, employees retaliate by leaking or erasing sensitive data.

Top Practices for Keeping Company Data Safe After Employees Leave

A proactive approach to employee offboarding is the best defense against data leaks or breaches. 

While we covered a list of steps to keep data secure after employees, here are best practices that will help strengthen your company’s data security even further:

Carry out a data audit to identify sensitive files accessed or shared by the employee

You can conduct a detailed data audit revealing if sensitive files were accessed, downloaded, or shared inappropriately. This is a must, not just to prevent data theft but also to find gaps in your security protocols. 

For highly sensitive files, such as proprietary code or client contracts, try to supplement automated audits with manual reviews by IT specialists or department heads.

This establishes a baseline for normal behavior and, in the process, makes anomalies easier to detect.

Implement automated device retrieval and secure data wipe protocols for company-owned devices

Coordinating device returns and securely wiping data takes a lot of hard work and is even prone to mistakes when handled manually. 

Automate these processes to reduce risks and enhance accountability. Workwize is your best bet for tracking, retrieving, and sanitizing company-owned devices during offboarding. 

Workwize helps monitor device usage and location through a centralized dashboard and automates retrievals and data clearance.

Make employees sign a formal exit agreement

Before an employee leaves, have them sign a formal document that outlines their responsibilities post-departure. The final handshake cements that they understand the boundaries, even when they’re no longer on your payroll.

Why is this so critical? Because legal accountability discourages any rare, intentional, shady behavior. This agreement should reaffirm confidentiality clauses, restrictions on sharing insider information, and reminders about any intellectual property they worked on as the company’s property. 

Pro Tip:  Use exact language in exit agreements so there’s no wiggle room. Work with high-risk employees (those with access to trade secrets or proprietary software). Depending on your region's labor laws, you may add non-compete or non-solicitation clauses.

Keep an eye on any suspicious post-departure activity 

Some could continue accessing information even after you take back an employee’s access. Maybe it’s accidental—they forgot they no longer have access. Or they could be trying to download proprietary data. Either way, you need to keep a watchful eye.

Start with SIEM tools—they aggregate data from your entire IT ecosystem and can detect unauthorized access attempts, flagging suspicious behavior in real-time. For example, if a former employee tries to log into a deactivated account or access shared drives via a backdoor, the SIEM system will ping you.

If you’re using LastPass, 1Password, or any other password manager, immediately rotate credentials for critical accounts once an employee exits. 

And here’s something else: Set up honeytokens. These are fake files or dummy credentials that act as bait for unauthorized users. If a former employee—or anyone else—tries to access them, you’ll get an immediate notification.

We also found some excellent suggestions from a few Reddit threads:

Via Reddit

Via Reddit

Simplify Offboarding and Protect Your Business

Securing company data after an employee departs doesn’t have to be complicated—but it is essential.

With streamlined and automated processes, you don't have to worry about data breaches.

Workwize makes device recovery and secure data erasure effortless. Book a Workwize Demo now and see how it can help you secure data before employee offboardings.