The audit firm PwC is launching a new service to give emergency help to organisations facing cyber attack.
The auditors say that cyber security and crisis management staff are called in by organisations to simulate cyber attacks to help them identify their vulnerabilities and to respond to incidents identified. The team has now launched a new multi-disciplinary, end-to-end service, called ‘BreachAid’. The service encompasses help to organisations globally facing a security breach, including identifying and responding to a breach or leak, to crisis management in the event of an incident, tackling the aftermath and handling any legal requirements.
The firm points to businesses preparing for new regulation set to be finalised by the European Union in 2015 which will lead to greater disclosure of security incidents in Europe.
Stewart Room, PwC Legal data privacy and protection partner, said: “Organisations that suspect they have suffered a security breach need to act quickly. Time is critical and the law requires that they act fast, under immense pressure. We’ve put in place a new service, joining up our multi-disciplinary teams across the globe, to help deal with these issues. Business leaders in the UK and across Europe face new legal challenges next year and will be closely monitoring the new regulation to see what impact it will have on their operations. Executives need to start to prepare now for the challenges that lie ahead.
“From our recent survey on information security, we know that over a quarter of business leaders say it is a priority to have an incident response process to report and handle breaches. But the majority are burying their heads in the sand by not taking appropriate steps. Having advisers on hand, and a proper process in place to handle breaches and deal with the myriad of complex legal issues arising, is essential.
“Interestingly, our recent annual survey of chief executives reported that nearly half (48pc) are concerned about cyber threats, including data privacy. There is little doubt that the regulation next year is going to hit them hard.”
PwC interviewed 9805 executives from more than 154 countries, including over 475 from the UK, across all industries for its Global State of Information Security Survey, that looks at the challenges faced by companies in protecting their businesses and their assets from cyber security incidents. The number of reported security incidents around the world rose 48pc to 42.8million, the equivalent of 117,339 attacks per day in 2013, according to the survey released by PwC.
The impact of security breaches has continued to affect business, according to this year’s survey. In total, 70pc of UK companies say they experienced some business down time as a result of security incidents this year. Some 59 per cent experienced up to 24 hours of down time.
Visit: www.pwc.co.uk/breachaid.
