In today’s cyber world, it’s not a question of if someone will hack your organization, but when. No matter a business’ size, a data breach can wreak havoc on an organization.
Once a data breach occurs, it is important to have an incident response plan to handle the breach properly and launch a data breach investigation to determine how the attack happened, the scope of the damage and more. At KJK, our team of attorneys has extensive experience in cybersecurity and data breaches. We can help you institute data breach prevention strategies and navigate the complexities of a cyber security investigation.
Important to Know:
Conducting a Data Breach Investigation
Our data breach attorneys at KJK help clients develop data breach response plans that help you work efficiently with law enforcement and other experts to investigate the breach. A hacking forensic investigation can help identify the entry method, resulting damage, such as data loss, and other important details of the attack, determine the scope of the intrusion, and minimize the potential harm or loss resulting from a data breach. Equally important is to determine whether a breach of security is, in fact, a reportable data breach, and the appropriate steps to be taken to prevent harm to clients and to their customers.
Having a comprehensive data breach response plan is critical to ensuring you have the proper procedures in place to adequately respond to an attack and recover from it. However, conducting a data breach investigation is not without its complications.
Data breaches and data leaks may result from a wide variety of activities, and it takes experienced data breach attorneys to help investigate and respond to such breaches.
Conducting an appropriate forensic investigation can help minimize the impact of a data breach, gather evidence of the scope of the data breach, work with appropriate law enforcement and regulators to mitigate the breach, and find out the motive and intent of the hackers.
Types of data breaches that can occur within businesses:
- Cyber attacks in which hackers use malware, skimming and phishing techniques to access protected and private information
- Ransoware threats in which hackers lock up data or networks and prevent authorized access to data
- Insider attacks where employees, vendors or other third parties access and use data for purposes other than that for which the data was collected
- Data misuse, where entities use, sell or disseminate electronic data improperly
- Theft of devices such as laptops, phones and other data storage devices
- Human error and negligence
- Social Engineering and Business Email Compromise (BEC) where employees are tricked into revealing confidential information
Consider:
Consequences of a Poorly Conducted Data Breach Investigation
While it is critical to determine the root cause of the cyber incident to prevent it from occurring again, failure to take specific actions or properly complete actions at the start of the investigation and response can further compromise your organization. For instance, one of the most important things to do immediately after a cyber attack is to freeze or take affected devices offline while preserving the forensic value of the data.
A properly conducted breach investigation can also determine whether the breach is likely to lead to harm or damage to customers, and whether responsibility for the breach lies with the client
Our data breach and legal knowledge can help guide companies who have experienced a cyber attack through a phishing investigation or other type of data breach investigation to help them determine what happened and what needs to be done moving forward.
Important to Know:
Should I Hire a Third-Party for a Data Breach Investigation?
Depending on the severity of the data breach, it may be in a business’ best interest to hire a third-party to conduct an investigation. Specifically, seeking legal counsel from a legal team like KJK with privacy and data security knowledge can help advise you on any legal implications of the attack.
As you assemble a team of professionals to respond to and investigate the breach, hiring third-party forensic investigators can also help speed up the process of identifying the source and full scope of the breach. These individuals may be able to help you collect evidence your team cannot collect on its own. Plus, they can help guide you through the remediation process.
Important to Know:
Conducting a Data Breach Investigation
While an investigation is necessary after a data breach, companies can implement several common strategies to help prevent data breaches before they occur. KJK is well-versed in data prevention best practices and can help ensure your business has the proper measures in place to combat cyber threats.
Provide Security Awareness Training
Data security is everyone’s job. Your employees play a key role in keeping your business secure, so they must be trained on security awareness best practices. Helping your employees understand the importance of data security and detecting and avoiding threats is your first line of defense in preventing a data breach.
Create a Data Breach Response Plan
One of the best methods of defense against data breaches is a response plan. By working with KJK lawyers, you can institute a framework that establishes the roles, responsibilities and procedures necessary to quickly and adequately respond to a data breach.
Comply with Data Protection Regulations
Our cybersecurity attorneys at KJK are up-to-date on the latest in data protection regulations. When your business complies with these regulations, you have a stronger chance of preventing data leaks as well as avoiding fines and tarnishing your reputation. These regulations can be legally enforced, and failure to comply can result in hefty fines and further damage to your business.
We can help familiarize your team with all applicable privacy laws and cybersecurity regulations to ensure you are in compliance at all times.
Insurance Review
Not all cyber insurance policies are the same, and our attorneys can work with you and your carrier to ensure that you are covered for all of the contingencies that might result from a data breach, including investigation, notification, regulation and potential post-breach litigation.
Review Contracts and Relationships
Data breach prevention begins with examining what sensitive data your enterprise collects, stores and transmits, and what other entities and third parties have access to that data. KJK can work with you to review and negotiate these third party agreements to ensure that the sensitive data is protected wherever it resides, and that these third parties are able to work with you in the event of a data breach.
Invest in Security Measures
Another important data breach prevention strategy is to invest in the right technology. Having the right network security measures in place, such as antivirus systems and firewalls, is essential to any operation. Equipping your business with smart security technology helps you stay protected against threats and better identify and respond to any incidents that may occur.
We’re Here for you:
Prevent Data Breaches with KJK
The KJK team is ready to help your business implement prevention strategies to help thwart cyber attacks and quickly respond to and investigate a data breach. Call us today to learn more about how we can help you defend your business and thoroughly investigate a data breach.