IntaForensics’ Director of Professional Services, Damian Walton has his say…
In recent years, a culture of ‘blame = claim’ has, to some extent, become the norm and this has led to the creation of a so called ’ambulance chaser’ industry. We are not here to debate the rights and wrongs of this economy, merely highlight the latest customers of this service, namely post-GDPR implementation cyber breach victims.
Businesses not taking their Cyber Security seriously are now facing greater financial consequences than ever.
3 Ways a Company can be Financially Impacted by a Cyber Attack
Businesses that lose customer data face the following:
- Cost of incident response (containment, investigation and resolution)
- Substantial financial penalties from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
- For incidents involving the loss of payment card data – fines from the card payment brands
And now – class action lawsuits.
Class Action Lawsuits
A class action lawsuit occurs when a company is sued on behalf of a group (or class) of absent parties. Following their recent highly-publicised potential data breach, a world leading ticket sales company are currently facing a class action lawsuit.
Companies are actively seeking the individuals whose data may have been compromised and offering them representation on a no win – no fee basis. This, on top of the investigation costs and potential financial regulatory penalties should send chills down the spine of all businesses.
What Can You Do? – Protect Your Company
Take immediate action to safeguard your company against cyber-attacks. IntaForensics offer companies a Government backed, industry supported foundation for basic cyber security hygiene. Cyber Essentials has been carefully designed to direct organisations of any size to protect themselves against common cyber threats.
The Cyber Essentials certification journey guides a company how to achieve the following:
- Secure an Internet connection
- Secure devices and software
- Control access to data and services
- Protect from viruses and other malware
- Keep devices and software up to date
Two levels of certification are offered, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus (which has an additional robust Assurance Framework providing an independent validation). For organisations wishing to undergo further assessment, they should consider the IASME Governance Standard which brings in policy, documentation and compliance.
For further information, please contact us.