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Practicing What We Preach: Updated Data Breach Response Guide Now Available

September 20, 2016 by Michael Bruemmer

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Even if you’re only an occasional reader of this blog, by now you know the Experian Data Breach Resolution team strongly advocates not only having a data breach plan in place for your organization, but that you also update it regularly. Research shows not enough companies are taking that advice; while an encouraging 86 percent of companies surveyed for the Fourth Annual study “Is Your Company Ready for a Big Data Breach?” had data breach preparedness plans in place, more than one-third have never updated or reviewed their plans since implementing them.

Updating your plan is a critical step in preparing for a data breach. Review and revision allows you to identify and respond to emerging threats, as well as address changes in your business that could affect how you respond to a breach.

The Experian Data Breach Resolution team practices what we preach. Once again, we’ve updated our free Data Breach Response Guide to help you better prepare for emerging cyber threats like ransomware and issues like employee privacy. The 2016–2017 edition of the Experian Data Breach Response Guide is a comprehensive exploration of what you should know and do to prepare your organization’s data breach response.

“Not a week goes by that we don’t see a new and sophisticated attack targeting a company,” Michael Bruemmer, vice president of Experian Data Breach Resolution says in the guide’s introduction. “If managed poorly, a major security incident can lead to costly lawsuits, regulatory action and a significant loss of trust with customers.”

Among the topics you’ll find in this year’s guide are:

  • Communicating with influencers when creating your plan.
  • Incorporating PR and communications in your response plan.
  • Conducting response exercises.
  • A preparedness quiz to help you understand how well you’re doing and what you need to work on.
  • Actions to take in the first 24 hours following a data breach.
  • A preparedness audit checklist.

One of the closing sections of the guide focuses on the need to audit, test and update your plan. Plans that are up to date have the greatest potential for success, so audit and test yours quarterly.

The 2016–2017 Data Breach Response Guide is available for free download.

Legal Notice: The information you obtain herein is not, nor intended to be, legal advice. We try to provide quality information but make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained. As legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case and laws are constantly changing, nothing provided herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.