How to Respond to a Data Breach

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Since data breaches are becoming more common, how you respond to one can go a long way in maintaining your business reputation and keeping you from losing the trust of your customers.
 
As with any crisis, a quick and decisive response is critical. But here’s the problem: most breaches go undetected for a long time. A 2016 report by FireEye found it took companies in the world an average of 146 days to detect a data breach. A separate report found 81 percent of data breaches aren’t detected until news reports, law enforcement notifications, or external fraud monitoring. The longer a breach goes undetected, the more harm it can do to your business.
 
If you are unfortunate enough to experience a data breach, here are some suggestions on how to respond:
 
  • Stay calm and take the time to investigate thoroughly. You might be tempted to quickly patch a hole so you can get your business back up and running, but this could leave you vulnerable to another breach.
  • Get a response plan in place before you turn the business switch back on.
  • Notify your customers and follow your state’s reporting laws. Not following through on this could subject you to penalties and further legal troubles.
  • Call in your security and forensic experts to identify and fix the problem.
 

Game Plan

  • Consider buying data breach insurance. Your policy should cover costs for:
     
    • Responding to a data breach, including forensic investigations.
    • Notifying affected customers.
    • Developing crisis management plans, along with PR and advertising campaigns to repair your image.
    • Legal defense and liability requirements, such as civic awards, settlements and judgments.
  • Develop a data breach response plan before you have a problem and test it periodically with some “what-if?” scenarios.
  • Read more about what each state requires for security breach notification. 
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