You just learned that your business experienced a data breach. Whether hackers took personal information from your corporate server, an insider stole customer information, or information was inadvertently exposed on your company’s website, you are probably wondering what to do next. Show
What steps should you take and whom should you contact if personal information may have been exposed? Although the answers vary from case to case, the following guidance from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can help you make smart, sound decisions. Secure Your OperationsMove quickly to secure your systems and fix vulnerabilities that may have caused the breach. The only thing worse than a data breach is multiple data breaches. Take steps so it doesn’t happen again.
Mobilize your breach response team right away to prevent additional data loss. The exact steps to take depend on the nature of the breach and the structure of your business. Assemble a team of experts to conduct a comprehensive breach response. Depending on the size and nature of your company, they may include forensics, legal, information security, information technology, operations, human resources, communications, investor relations, and management.
Stop additional data loss. Take all affected equipment offline immediately — but don’t turn any machines off until the forensic experts arrive. Closely monitor all entry and exit points, especially those involved in the breach. If possible, put clean machines online in place of affected ones. In addition, update credentials and passwords of authorized users. If a hacker stole credentials, your system will remain vulnerable until you change those credentials, even if you’ve removed the hacker’s tools. Remove improperly posted information from the web.
Interview people who discovered the breach. Also, talk with anyone else who may know about it. If you have a customer service center, make sure the staff knows where to forward information that may aid your investigation of the breach. Document your investigation. Do not destroy evidence. Don’t destroy any forensic evidence in the course of your investigation and remediation. Fix VulnerabilitiesThink about service providers. If service providers were involved, examine what personal information they can access and decide if you need to change their access privileges. Also, ensure your service providers are taking the necessary steps to make sure another breach does not occur. If your service providers say they have remedied vulnerabilities, verify that they really fixed things. Check your network segmentation. When you set up your network, you likely segmented it so that a breach on one server or in one site could not lead to a breach on another server or site. Work with your forensics experts to analyze whether your segmentation plan was effective in containing the breach. If you need to make any changes, do so now. Work with your forensics experts. Find out if measures such as encryption were enabled when the breach happened. Analyze backup or preserved data. Review logs to determine who had access to the data at the time of the breach. Also, analyze who currently has access, determine whether that access is needed, and restrict access if it is not. Verify the types of information compromised, the number of people affected, and whether you have contact information for those people. When you get the forensic reports, take the recommended remedial measures as soon as possible. Have a communications plan. Create a comprehensive plan that reaches all affected audiences — employees, customers, investors, business partners, and other stakeholders. Don’t make misleading statements about the breach. And don’t withhold key details that might help consumers protect themselves and their information. Also, don’t publicly share information that might put consumers at further risk. Anticipate questions that people will ask. Then, put top-tier questions and clear, plain-language answers on your website where they are easy to find. Good communication up front can limit customers’ concerns and frustration, saving your company time and money later. Notify Appropriate PartiesWhen your business experiences a data breach, notify law enforcement, other affected businesses, and affected individuals. Determine your legal requirements. All states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have enacted legislation requiring notification of security breaches involving personal information. In addition, depending on the types of information involved in the breach, there may be other laws or regulations that apply to your situation. Check state and federal laws or regulations for any specific requirements for your business. Notify law enforcement. Call your local police department immediately. Report your situation and the potential risk for identity theft. The sooner law enforcement learns about the theft, the more effective they can be. If your local police aren’t familiar with investigating information compromises, contact the local office of the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service. For incidents involving mail theft, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Did the breach involve electronic personal health records? Then check if you’re covered by the Health Breach Notification Rule. If so, you must notify the FTC and, in some cases, the media. Complying with the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule explains who you must notify, and when. Also, check if you’re covered by the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule. If so, you must notify the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and, in some cases, the media. HHS’s Breach Notification Rule explains who you must notify, and when. Health Breach ResourcesHIPAA Breach Notification Rule: HHS HIPAA Breach Notification Form: Complying with the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule: Notify affected businesses. If account access information — say, credit card or bank account numbers — has been stolen from you, but you don’t maintain the accounts, notify the institution that does so it can monitor the accounts for fraudulent activity. If you collect or store personal information on behalf of other businesses, notify them of the data breach. If Social Security numbers have been stolen, contact the major credit bureaus for additional information or advice. If the compromise may involve a large group of people, advise the credit bureaus if you are recommending that people request fraud alerts and credit freezes for their files. Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or 1-800-685-1111 Experian: experian.com/help or 1-888-397-3742 TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-help or 1-888-909-8872 Notify individuals. If you quickly notify people that their personal information has been compromised, they can take steps to reduce the chance that their information will be misused. In deciding who to notify, and how, consider:
For example, thieves who have stolen names and Social Security numbers can use that information not only to sign up for new accounts in the victim’s name, but also to commit tax identity theft. People who are notified early can take steps to limit the damage. When notifying individuals, the FTC recommends you:
State breach notification laws typically tell you what information you must, or must not, provide in your breach notice. In general, unless your state law says otherwise, you’ll want to:
Consult with your law enforcement contact about what information to include so your notice doesn’t hamper the investigation. Tell people what steps they can take, given the type of information exposed, and provide relevant contact information. For example, people whose Social Security numbers have been stolen should contact the credit bureaus to ask that fraud alerts or credit freezes be placed on their credit reports. See IdentityTheft.gov/databreach for information on appropriate follow-up steps after a compromise, depending on the type of personal information that was exposed. Consider adding this information as an attachment to your breach notification letter, as we’ve done in the model letter below. Include current information about how to recover from identity theft. For a list of recovery steps, refer consumers to IdentityTheft.gov. Consider providing information about the law enforcement agency working on the case, if the law enforcement agency agrees that would help. Identity theft victims often can provide important information to law enforcement. Encourage people who discover that their information has been misused to report it to the FTC, using IdentityTheft.gov. IdentityTheft.gov will create an individualized recovery plan, based on the type of information exposed. And, each report is entered into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure, online database available to civil and criminal law enforcement agencies. Describe how you’ll contact consumers in the future. For example, if you’ll only contact consumers by mail, then say so. If you won’t ever call them about the breach, then let them know. This information may help victims avoid phishing scams tied to the breach, while also helping to protect your company’s reputation. Some organizations tell consumers that updates will be posted on their website. This gives consumers a place they can go at any time to see the latest information. Model LetterThe following letter is a model for notifying people whose Social Security numbers have been stolen. When Social Security numbers have been stolen, it’s important to advise people to place a free fraud alert or credit freeze on their credit files. A fraud alert may hinder identity thieves from getting credit with stolen information because it’s a signal to creditors to contact the consumer before opening new accounts or changing existing accounts. A credit freeze stops most access to a consumer’s credit report, making it harder for an identity thief to open new accounts in the consumer’s name. [Name of Company/Logo] Date: [Insert Date] NOTICE OF DATA BREACH Dear [Insert Name]: What Happened? [Describe how the data breach happened, the date of the breach, and how the stolen information has been misused (if you know).] What Information Was Involved? This incident involved your [describe the type of personal information that may have been exposed due to the breach]. What We Are Doing [Describe how you are responding to the data breach, including: what actions you’ve taken to remedy the situation; what steps you are taking to protect individuals whose information has been breached; and what services you are offering (like credit monitoring or identity theft restoration services).] What You Can Do The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that you place a free fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. Contact any one of the three major credit bureaus. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts. The initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for one year. You can renew it after one year. Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or 1-800-685-1111 Experian: experian.com/help or 1-888-397-3742 TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-help Ask each credit bureau to send you a free credit report after it places a fraud alert on your file. Review your credit reports for accounts and inquiries you don’t recognize. These can be signs of identity theft. If your personal information has been misused, visit the FTC’s site at IdentityTheft.gov to report the identity theft and get recovery steps. Even if you do not find any suspicious activity on your initial credit reports, the FTC recommends that you check your credit reports periodically so you can spot problems and address them quickly. You may also want to consider placing a free credit freeze. A credit freeze means potential creditors cannot get your credit report. That makes it less likely that an identity thief can open new accounts in your name. To place a freeze, contact each of the major credit bureaus at the links or phone numbers above. A freeze remains in place until you ask the credit bureau to temporarily lift it or remove it. We have attached information from the FTC’s website, IdentityTheft.gov/databreach, about steps you can take to help protect yourself from identity theft. The steps are based on the types of information exposed in this breach. Other Important Information [Insert other important information here.] For More Information Call [telephone number] or go to [Internet website]. [State how additional information or updates will be shared/or where they will be posted.]
[Insert closing] As noted above, we suggest that you include advice that is tailored to the types of personal information exposed. The example below is for a data breach involving Social Security numbers. This advice and advice for other types of personal information is available at IdentityTheft.gov/databreach. Also, consider enclosing with your letter a copy of Identity Theft: A Recovery Plan, a comprehensive guide from the FTC to help people address identity theft. You can order the guide in bulk for free at bulkorder.ftc.gov. The guide will be particularly helpful to people with limited or no internet access. Optional AttachmentWhat information was lost or exposed?Social Security number
For More Guidance From the FTCThis publication provides general guidance for an organization that has experienced a data breach. If you’d like more individualized guidance, you may contact the FTC at 1-877-ID-THEFT (877-438-4338). Please provide information regarding what has occurred, including the type of information taken, the number of people potentially affected, your contact information, and contact information for the law enforcement agent with whom you are working. The FTC can prepare its Consumer Response Center for calls from the people affected, help law enforcement with information from its national database of reports, and provide you with additional guidance as necessary. Because the FTC has a law enforcement role with respect to information privacy, you may seek guidance anonymously. Which type of control identifies a security risk that might be present in a policy?Security Risk Assessments
Risk assessments are important because they are used to identify assets or areas that present the highest risk, vulnerability, or exposure to the enterprise. It then identifies the risks that could affect those assets.
What is information security control?Information security controls are measures that help reduce risk, such as breaches, data theft, and unauthorized changes to digital information. Information security controls may include hardware devices, software, policies, plans, and procedures that improve an organization's security performance.
What is risk in security?NISTIR 8011 Vol. 1. Information System-Related Security Risk. Definition(s): A measure of the extent to which an entity is threatened by a potential circumstance or event, and typically a function of: (i) the adverse impacts that would arise if the circumstance or event occurs; and (ii) the likelihood of occurrence.
What is information security risk management?Information security risk management, or ISRM, is the process of managing risks associated with the use of information technology. It involves identifying, assessing, and treating risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an organization's assets.
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