Data Breach Review: How To Instantly Identify And Analyze Compromised Data

If you're lucky, you'll never find yourself in a position where a data breach review is necessary. Unfortunately, that's becoming more and more unlikely. Data breaches have been on a meteoric rise as of late. Such events can be devastating for a company or firm — leading to compromised personal information, financial loss, reputational damage, and a host of legal and regulatory consequences.

But this isn't where the detrimental impacts end.

Most companies will experience operational disruption, and it's possible that valuable intellectual property (e.g., trade secrets) could be lost. And when we say these breaches are on the rise, we're not being alarmist. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of people impacted by these incidents increased from 294 million to 422 million. 

So, what should a company do after a data breach? There are many strategies for minimizing negative outcomes, but your work needs to begin with proactive identification and analysis of compromised data. 

Key Elements To Review After A Data Breach

If your organization experiences a breach, it's important to take quick action. This starts with a thorough analysis of personal information and sensitive data that could have been affected. And while eDiscovery software typically caters to disputes and investigations, it's also a powerful tool for identifying and reviewing sensitive information after a breach.

By conducting a data breach database search using eDiscovery software to collect, search and review relevant information, you'll be able to assess the potential impact and risks associated with the compromised data. This is an important step because it helps you determine how in-depth your response needs to be.

Any data breach analysis must be accompanied by a clear understanding of legal and compliance considerations. These include federal and local data protection laws, breach notification requirements, incident response documentation, preservation of evidence, and evaluating your organization's data retention and destruction policies.

Tools And Techniques For Instant Data Breach Analysis

Historically, data breaches have been difficult to detect. In fact, the average detection time is 287 days. That's long enough to binge The Office nearly 96 times. 

Fortunately, data review platforms that utilize machine learning and AI don't have the same limitations as the average person. They can detect unusual behavior and patterns long before their human counterparts, which is why these resources have become so invaluable.

It's important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to data breach response. It all depends on the platform you're using. For instance, you can easily identify and categorize compromised data with a discovery tool like Reveal.

With tools like suggested tagging, automatic identification of personally identifiable information (PII), automatic data sorting, and metadata analysis — you'll be fully prepared for a quick breach response.

Mitigation and Response Strategies

As they used to say in the Old Country, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This means that proper mitigation strategies can prove far more valuable than the best data breach review and response tools. So, that’s what you should do. You'll want to start by implementing Incident Response Plans and putting communication protocols into place to deal with potential breaches. 

Your Incident Response Plan should clearly identify steps to take after a breach, establish clear escalation policies, and identify core team responsibilities. Communication protocols should define appropriate communication channels and identify key contacts within the organization. In addition to these plans, you can minimize risks by implementing strong security measures, conducting risk assessments, training employees, utilizing data backups, and maintaining regulatory compliance.

Of course, even the best-laid plans don't always work the way we'd hope. So, what do you do when a breach occurs?

First, you need to activate your Incident Response Plan and secure the affected systems. Your organization should also take immediate action to contain the breach. From that point, you can use discovery software to conduct a data breach review, preserve evidence, and assess incident impact.

Then comes the dreaded part: notifying law enforcement, regulatory authorities, and the affected individuals. You're on your own there, but if it's any consolation, there's really no secret method of success you need to accomplish this task. You just have to rip off the bandaid. 

Conclusion

The importance of data breach preparedness and response cannot be overstated. In America, the average cost of a single incident is $9.44 million. These costs, combined with reputational damage and other negative outcomes, demand that organizations take a proactive approach to combat such issues.

Statistics show that companies utilizing AI tools for incident response save over $3 million in response costs, so utilizing AI-powered discovery software to identify and analyze compromised data may be the most powerful step you can take.

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If you're looking to save your organization money while ensuring a quick and effective response to data breaches, Reveal can help. Schedule a demo today to learn exactly how.