Gabbiel has been laid off from the organization that she has worked at for almost a decade. Mark, her manager, needs to make sure that Gabbiel's account is securely handled after her last day of work. What can he do to her account as an interim step to best ensure that files are still accessible and that the account can be returned to use if Gabbiel returns after the layoff?

Disabling the account is the best option to meet Mark’s needs. Disabling an account will leave it in a different state than an active account or one with a changed password, which should be noted by support staff if Gabbiel called and asked to change her password. That means that there is less risk of a disgruntled employee or an attacker successfully gaining access to the account. At the same time, disabling is less destructive than deleting the account, making it faster to restore and preserve her files and other materials. Most organizations will choose to have a time limit for how long an account can be in a disabled state without review or moving to another account state to help ensure that disabled accounts do not build up over time.