The past few years have taught us that companies will be breached and consumer data will be stolen. Last year was a record year for data breaches, and 2017, so far, has seen its fair share of high-profile cyberattacks. Still, top executives continue to stumble in the way they respond to an attack, magnifying and extending the damage both to their reputation and their customers.
The Avoidable Mistakes Executives Continue to Make After a Data Breach
As cyber attacks become more common, what can business leaders do to prepare? In this piece, the author describes some of the most common mistakes executives make when dealing with an attack, as well as strategies to avoid these pitfalls. First, many leaders fail to notify their customers about the breach in a timely way, and when they do, they often flub the customer service response. Other leaders evade the truth, or release confusing and incorrect information about a breach, preventing customers from taking the actions they need to take to protect themselves. And finally, many top executives simply don’t believe that it’s their responsibility to protect their organizations from a data breach. To respond more effectively to these attacks, top executives must begin to hold themselves accountable for cyber incidents — and learn from the mistakes that others have made before them.