If you run a business that completes transactions online, you store confidential information electronically, or have servers to that collect and process such information, avoiding security breaches has to be a high priority issue. After all, there are stories about major companies being hacked and customer information being stolen all the time. This could lead to many forms of identity theft and other cybercrimes.
Indeed, many cybercrimes and security breaches do not become high profile stories unless sensitive personal information is stolen or exposed. This means that these types of maladies can happen to any business on any given day, including yours. How do you get ready and how do you deal with a security breach? This post will provide some helpful tips.
Have a seven-day plan – It may be obvious to have a step-by-step plan to deal with breaches, but you would be surprised how many companies don’t have a comprehensive plan to inform customers and suppliers in the event of a breach. You commonly have a seven-day window to deal with breaches before customers may lose trust in you, so having such a plan can help.
Learn to recognize threats – If you can recognize common (or unusual) threats to your system through proper threat response systems, you may be able to update your systems accordingly to prevent future, similar threats.
Know what you have and protect it – Again, it may seem obvious that you have to protect sensitive information, but having knowledge of what is sensitive and creating proper controls over that information can help in minimizing the risk of exposing it.
Insurers who have questions regarding the legal implications of breach response plans should contact an experienced attorney.
The preceding is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.