Data Breaches can be very costly. Most companies fail to understand the full effects of data breaches and the damage they can cause. When you are engaging in a co-venture or a merger and acquisition, a major consideration is whether the company with which you are engaging had a serious data breach. If so, some the proprietary information, the confidential data, trade secrets, if you will may have been compromised. If the reason to engage another company is to have access to or share data, then knowing if their data was comprised is vital.
As the article in Computer Weekly attests…”Even though 79 percent of top executives believe executive level involvement is necessary to successfully respond to data breaches, more than 70 percent say their organizations do not fully understand the risks associated with breaches, according to a new Ponemon Institute report. The report is based on a poll of nearly 500 senior executives in the U.S. and Britain. Fewer than half of respondents said they were kept informed about breach response and a similar number described their own enterprises’ incident response as either proactive or mature. The study found a lack of leadership and board input are major barriers to effective incident response, which today is more reactive than proactive. It also found that senior executives are more concerned with insider threats than external threat actors. Forty-two percent of respondents said they were most concerned about negligent insiders causing breaches, while 25 percent were concerned about malicious insiders. The report advises executives to identify and secure sensitive and valuable information and consult an independent third party to provide recommendations. Insider threats should be addressed through training and awareness programs that are audited to ensure their effectiveness. The CEO and board also should be met with regularly to keep them apprised of breach issues.”
