What Is a Cyber Breach Coach and How Do I Get One?
As cyber breaches become increasingly complex, a new role has emerged to help organizations navigate their response and recovery. A cyber breach coach can be an essential part of managing a data event, working with organizations to isolate the affected data, notify customers, retain necessary forensics professionals and manage crisis communications.
“Often, a cyber breach coach is the first responder, coupled with the carrier's claims professionals, to help the company triage the event,” says Tim Francis, Travelers Enterprise Cyber Lead, who equates the role of cyber breach coach to that of a general contractor for an organization. “They can help companies understand what needs to take place, the timeliness of what needs to take place, also, importantly, notification requirements.”
An evolving role
A cyber breach coach is an attorney who specializes in data privacy and cyber security, and has relationships with third-party forensics investigators, crisis communications professionals and other service providers an organization may need in the wake of a cyber event. Because cyber breach coaches are familiar with these vendors, they can engage them immediately on their clients' behalf and help ensure a speedy response.
Cyber breach coaches also help their clients understand the necessary steps to report and document any data incidents, and help manage communications with law enforcement, credit monitoring vendors, call center vendors, public relations and other services.
In addition to helping organizations after an incident or breach, cyber breach coaches can also offer advice on building an incident response plan, developing cyber security awareness programs and facilitating other efforts to help businesses minimize their risk.
To begin, a cyber breach coach may try to collect the following information:
- What happened? Provide as much information as possible about the incident.
- When did you first notice this issue? Give the approximate date and time your organization discovered the incident.
- What was compromised? List any devices or data you believe may have been exposed.
- Who has access to it? List any employees, vendors or other personnel who have access to the devices or data in question.
- How do you usually secure it? Explain your security protocol for protecting this asset.
It's critical that you don't wait for your organization to experience a cyber breach before reaching out for help. By investing in cyber insurance coverage, you can secure access to a cyber breach coach to help ensure your organization is prepared to deal with potential data security challenges that lie ahead.
Learn more about Cyber Insurance from Travelers.
