Plexicus Logo

Command Palette

Search for a command to run...

HRTech Security Solutions

Your Employee Data is Being Exposed. HR systems contain goldmine of personal data. 75% of HR platforms have critical vulnerabilities. Employee records sell for $15-$45 on dark web. GDPR fines for HR breaches average $2.3M. Plexicus secures HR applications from payroll to performance reviews.

Plexicus User

Senior Developer

ID: EMP-2024-1337
Dept: Engineering
Salary: $95,000 → ACCESSING...
Benefits: Health Plan → BREACHED
SSN: ***-**-1234 → STOLEN
Identity Protection: ACTIVE
Payroll Security: ENABLED
Benefits Data: ENCRYPTED

HR Data Attack Surface

Understanding the complete employee data ecosystem and vulnerability landscape

Employee Data Ecosystem

Recruitment
During recruitment, your company collects personal data to assess job applicants. This includes their professional history, skills, and personal information for background checks.
Vulnerabilities
ResumeSkillsBackground
HRIS
The Human Resources Information System (HRIS) stores sensitive employee information. This includes personally identifiable information (PII) like Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses, and confidential medical data.
Vulnerabilities
SSN, DOBAddressMedical
Payroll
Payroll processing requires collecting and storing critical financial data. This includes employees' bank account details for direct deposit, tax information, and salary history.
Vulnerabilities
Bank AccountTax InfoSalary
Performance
Performance management involves generating and storing a range of employee data. This includes performance reviews, formal evaluations, and records of any disciplinary actions.
Vulnerabilities
ReviewsEvaluationsDisciplinary

HR Data Security Reality

Major HR System Breaches

Examining the scale and severity of major HR data breaches.

0M
Anthem employee health records
0+
Companies affected by Equifax HR breach
0M
Quest Diagnostics employee lab results
0M
LabCorp employee medical records
$0M
Average HR breach cost
0%
Employees would consider leaving
$0M
Average GDPR fine
$0M
Average class action cost

Impact of HR Breaches

Quantifying the financial and reputational damage caused by HR breaches.

HR Application Security Testing

Comprehensive security validation for HR applications

Employee Portal Security Scan
curl -X POST "https://api.plexicus.com/receive_plexalyzer_message" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${PLEXICUS_TOKEN}" \
  -d '{
    "request": "create-repo",
    "request_id": "hr-scan-001",
    "extra_data": {
      "repository_name": "employee-portal",
      "industry": "hrtech",
      "data_types": ["pii", "financial", "medical"],
      "compliance_requirements": ["gdpr", "ccpa", "sox"]
    }
  }'

HR application vulnerability assessment targeting sensitive data types:

PII Data
SSN, DOB, Address
Financial
Salary, Bank Info
Medical
Health Records
Compliance
GDPR, CCPA, SOX
HR System Vulnerabilities
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "finding-hr-001",
      "type": "finding",
      "attributes": {
        "title": "Employee SSN Exposed in API Response",
        "description": "Social Security Numbers returned in plaintext API response",
        "severity": "critical",
        "file_path": "src/api/EmployeeController.java",
        "original_line": 156,
        "tool": "sonarqube",
        "cve": "CWE-359",
        "cvssv3_score": 9.1,
        "false_positive": false,
        "remediation_notes": "Mask SSN in API responses and implement field-level encryption"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "finding-hr-002",
      "type": "finding",
      "attributes": {
        "title": "SQL Injection in Payroll System",
        "description": "SQL injection vulnerability allows unauthorized salary data access",
        "severity": "critical",
        "file_path": "src/services/PayrollService.js",
        "original_line": 89,
        "tool": "checkmarx",
        "cve": "CWE-89",
        "cvssv3_score": 8.8,
        "false_positive": false,
        "remediation_notes": "Use parameterized queries and input validation"
      }
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "total_findings": 67,
    "critical": 11,
    "high": 19,
    "medium": 25,
    "low": 12
  }
}
11
Critical
19
High
25
Medium
12
Low

Real HR System Vulnerabilities

Common security flaws in HR applications and their secure implementations

Employee Data Exposure
Unauthorized access to employee personal information
BEFOREAFTER
secure-employee-api.java
✅ SECURE CONFIGURATION
1// ✅ Secure employee data access
2@GetMapping("/employees/{id}")
3@PreAuthorize("hasPermission(#id, 'Employee', 'READ')")
4public EmployeeDTO getEmployee(@PathVariable Long id, Authentication auth) {
5 // Verify user can access this employee record
6 Employee employee = employeeRepository.findById(id).orElse(null);
7
8 if (!canAccessEmployee(auth, employee)) {
9 throw new AccessDeniedException("Insufficient permissions");
10 }
11
12 // Return sanitized DTO, not full entity
13 return employeeMapper.toSanitizedDTO(employee);
14}
15 
16// Sanitized DTO without sensitive data
17public class EmployeeDTO {
18 private String name;
19 private String department;
20 private String jobTitle;
21 // No sensitive fields exposed
22}
Lines: 22Security: PASSED
vulnerable-employee-api.java
❌ VULNERABLE CONFIGURATION
1// ❌ Vulnerable employee data endpoint
2@GetMapping("/employees/{id}")
3public Employee getEmployee(@PathVariable Long id) {
4 // No access control - any authenticated user can access any employee
5 return employeeRepository.findById(id).orElse(null);
6}
7 
8// Returns full employee object with sensitive data
9public class Employee {
10 private String ssn;
11 private String bankAccount;
12 private Double salary;
13 private String medicalInfo;
14 // ... other sensitive fields
15}
Lines: 15Security: FAILED

VULNERABLE

Security Issues:HIGH
Risk Level:CRITICAL

SECURED

Security Issues:NONE
Risk Level:LOW
Payroll Data Leakage
SQL injection and logging of sensitive payroll information
BEFOREAFTER
secure-payroll.py
✅ SECURE CONFIGURATION
1# ✅ Secure payroll processing
2def calculate_payroll_secure(employee_id, requester_id):
3 # Verify authorization
4 if not has_payroll_access(requester_id, employee_id):
5 raise UnauthorizedAccess("No access to payroll data")
6
7 # Parameterized query
8 query = "SELECT * FROM payroll WHERE employee_id = %s"
9 result = db.execute(query, (employee_id,))
10
11 # Secure audit logging
12 audit_log.info({
13 "action": "payroll_calculation",
14 "employee_id": employee_id,
15 "requester_id": requester_id,
16 "timestamp": datetime.now()
17 })
18
19 return sanitize_financial_data(result)
20 
21# Secure salary access with proper authorization
22def get_employee_salary_secure(employee_id, requester_id):
23 if not authorize_salary_access(requester_id, employee_id):
24 raise Forbidden("Access denied")
25
26 salary_data = calculate_payroll_secure(employee_id, requester_id)
27 return mask_sensitive_data(salary_data)
Lines: 27Security: PASSED
vulnerable-payroll.py
❌ VULNERABLE CONFIGURATION
1# ❌ Vulnerable payroll calculation
2def calculate_payroll(employee_id):
3 # Raw SQL with potential injection
4 query = f"SELECT * FROM payroll WHERE employee_id = {employee_id}"
5 result = db.execute(query)
6
7 # Logging sensitive data
8 print(f"Payroll calculated for {result['name']}: ${result['salary']}")
9
10 return result
11 
12# Exposed salary information in logs
13def get_employee_salary(employee_id):
14 salary_data = calculate_payroll(employee_id)
15 logger.info(f"Salary lookup: {salary_data}")
16 return salary_data
Lines: 16Security: FAILED

VULNERABLE

Security Issues:HIGH
Risk Level:CRITICAL

SECURED

Security Issues:NONE
Risk Level:LOW

HR-Specific Use Cases

Specialized security solutions for different HR application types

Payroll System Security
Salary data encryption validation
Bank account information protection
Tax calculation system security
Direct deposit fraud prevention
Employee Benefits Platform
Health insurance data protection (HIPAA)
401k account information security
Life insurance beneficiary protection
Flexible spending account security
Recruitment Platform Security
Candidate personal data protection
Background check system security
Interview scheduling system protection
Reference checking platform security
Performance Management Systems
Employee evaluation data security
Goal tracking system protection
Compensation planning security
Disciplinary record protection

HR Compliance Automation

Automated compliance validation for HR data protection regulations

GDPR for Employee Data

Request:


  # GDPR compliance check for employee data
curl -X GET "https://api.plexicus.com/findings"   -H "Authorization: Bearer {PLEXICUS_TOKEN}"   -d '{
    "scope": "employee_data_processing",
    "data_types": ["personal", "special_category"],
    "repository_id": "hr-system-repo"
  }'

Response:

{
  "gdpr_compliance": {
    "status": "non_compliant",
    "violations": [
      {
        "article": "Article 32",
        "description": "Employee health data not encrypted",
        "file": "src/models/EmployeeHealth.js:23",
        "severity": "critical"
      }
    ],
    "data_subject_rights": {
      "right_to_access": "implemented",
      "right_to_rectification": "missing",
      "right_to_erasure": "partial",
      "right_to_portability": "not_implemented"
    }
  }
}

Compliance Violations

Article 32: Data encryption requirements
Article 17: Right to erasure implementation

Data Subject Rights

Right to access: Implemented
Right to rectification: Missing

HR API Security Integration

Comprehensive API security validation for HR systems

Employee Data API Protection
curl -X GET "https://api.plexicus.com/findings" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${PLEXICUS_TOKEN}" \
  -d '{
    "filters": {
      "category": "HR",
      "data_exposure": ["pii", "financial"],
      "severity": ["critical", "high"]
    },
    "pagination": {"limit": 15}
  }'

HR API security assessment targeting sensitive data types:

PII Data
Employee records
Financial
Payroll data
Critical
High severity
High Risk
Priority fixes
Payroll API Vulnerabilities
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "finding-payroll-api-001",
      "type": "finding",
      "attributes": {
        "title": "Authorization Bypass in Payroll API",
        "description": "Employee can access other employees' payroll data without authorization",
        "severity": "critical",
        "file_path": "src/api/PayrollController.js",
        "original_line": 78,
        "tool": "checkmarx",
        "cve": "CWE-862",
        "cvssv3_score": 8.5,
        "false_positive": false,
        "remediation_notes": "Implement proper authorization checks and user context validation"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "finding-benefits-api-001",
      "type": "finding",
      "attributes": {
        "title": "Mass Assignment in Benefits Enrollment",
        "description": "Protected fields can be modified via mass assignment vulnerability",
        "severity": "high",
        "file_path": "src/api/BenefitsController.js",
        "original_line": 145,
        "tool": "sonarqube",
        "cve": "CWE-915",
        "cvssv3_score": 7.3,
        "false_positive": false,
        "remediation_notes": "Whitelist allowed fields and implement input validation"
      }
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "total_findings": 18,
    "critical": 4,
    "high": 6,
    "medium": 6,
    "low": 2
  }
}
4
Critical
6
High
6
Medium
2
Low

Employee Data Classification

Systematic categorization of employee data by sensitivity level

HR Data Categories

Public
employee_name
job_title
department
work_location
Internal
employee_id
manager_relationships
project_assignments
skill_assessments
Confidential
performance_reviews
salary_information
disciplinary_records
medical_information
Restricted
social_security_number
bank_account_details
background_check_results
investigation_records
Data Classification Configuration
# Employee data classification
employee_data_types:
  public:
    - employee_name
    - job_title
    - department
    - work_location
    
  internal:
    - employee_id
    - manager_relationships
    - project_assignments
    - skill_assessments
    
  confidential:
    - performance_reviews
    - salary_information
    - disciplinary_records
    - medical_information
    
  restricted:
    - social_security_number
    - bank_account_details
    - background_check_results
    - investigation_records
4
Classification Levels
16
Data Types

Security Controls by Level

Public: Basic access controls
Internal: Role-based permissions
Confidential: Encryption + audit
Restricted: Multi-factor + monitoring

Cost of HR Data Breaches

Transform your HR security costs from reactive expenses to proactive investments

$8K/month
Automated HR security scanning
95% automated
Compliance validation
89% reduction
Data breach prevention
75% faster
Audit preparation

Total Annual Investment

$96K annual investment

ROI: 98% cost reduction, $7.98M savings

Transform your security posture and save millions in potential breach costs

HR Security Architecture

Employee Data Protection Layers

Employee Portal

HR frontend security testing

Payroll API

Financial data API security

HR Code Analysis

Static and dynamic code review

Employee Data

Database and storage security

Application Layer
Layer 1
L1
Input Validation
Validating all employee data inputs to prevent injection...
Output Encoding
Session Management

Validating all employee data inputs to prevent injection attacks and ensure data integrity in HR systems.

HR Compliance Standards

Navigating the Complexities of Workforce Regulations with Confidence

Data Protection Regulations
GDPR
EU employee data protection
CCPA
California employee privacy rights
PIPEDA
Canadian employee data protection
LGPD
Brazilian employee data protection
Employment Law Requirements
FLSA
Fair Labor Standards Act
EEOC
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act
FMLA
Family and Medical Leave Act
Industry-Specific Compliance
SOX
Public company HR controls
HIPAA
Employee health benefits data
PCI DSS
HR payment processing
ISO 27001
HR information security

Get Started Today

Choose your role and get started with Plexicus HRTech. Safeguard your HR applications and employee data—from code to compliance—in minutes.

No credit card required • 14-day free trial • Full feature access