As a part of reconciling interests following a highly publicized breach, victim organizations often apologize with an offer to induce customers to remain or return to the fold. Retailers may reduce prices or offer subscription memberships, while banks may offer credit reporting or monitoring for a year or enhanced rates on accounts. These are examples of ways that a breach bleeds over from the IT department to the marketing department, and sometimes one is left to wonder if, in a small way, the tail’s not wagging the dog. Even if the breach resulted in limited to no impact on consumers, the ubiquity of cyberthreats and the sense of urgency resulting from a breach offers businesses an opportunity to demonstrate swift and decisive action to protect customer data, a boon for PR and marketing.

And Speaking of Risk

A recent Financial Times article, “Cyber Attacks: The Risks of Pricing Digital Cover,” suggests that insurance policies against breach may be worth as much as $10 billion by 2020. They further suggest that insurers are scrambling to better understand the risks involved, as underwriting the unknown seems inversely correlated to profitability. The hard truth buried in those numbers is that even those practiced in the art of quantifying business risk are struggling.

The Right Policies Are The Best Insurance

ICS is an expert at assessing your risk and vulnerabilities in the digital space, and we can work with your organization to establish policies and protocols that will protect you and yours. After all, you can’t spell security without ICS. Call today.