Commencing a new business, undergoing acquisition, or engaging in a merger all represent significant milestones that greatly influence a company’s future trajectory and expansion.
According to a recent study, a 42% surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) during the first quarter of 2023 has been noted compared to the same period in 2022.
Business cybersecurity is an indispensable aspect, regardless of whether a business is in its initial stages, merging with another entity, or being acquired by a larger corporation
Business Acquisition and Compliance with Cybersecurity Laws
Any business depends on data that the law seeks to be safeguarded from hackers and unwarranted access.
However, despite all the security measures put in place, 125 million data sets were hacked in the fourth quarter of 2020 making it the highest number of exposed data records in the past few years.
This leads to several consequences impacting both the organization and the people whose data was breached.
Lawsuits and monetary fines engulf the company while identity thefts and other frauds loom over victims of business cyber attacks.
Hence, some best practices are to be adhered to by all stakeholders. The following cybersecurity assessments to be considered were outlined in a Kaspersky report.
- Examine past cybersecurity audits of the company/companies – Cybersecurity audits include internal and external checks of all the resources, procedures, policies, compliance adherence, etc. It is meant to scan for weaknesses and strengths in the entire digital ecosystem.
- Analyse deeper into the most valuable digital assets – This is to find vulnerabilities clouding the most valuable asset of the company and take the appropriate steps to mitigate risks.
- Check the web hosting provider history – Who caters to your business cybersecurity needs must be credible and its history be known to you. If security incidents are found, look for how the hosting provider mitigated risks effectively. This will bring to light how future threats will be addressed.
- Company check – While acquiring a business, integrating a new system with the present ones, or stating one, basic business cybersecurity practices require a thorough look into all incidents.
Global Business Cybersecurity After Mergers and Acquisitions
In the Middle East, the first quarter of 2023 saw 165 deals in mergers, and acquisitions ringing in a profit of $25.8 billion.
Addressing the need to maintain business cybersecurity for entrepreneurs, Alexey Vovk, Head of the Information Security Department at Kaspersky shared his views.
“Acquiring an already established business can be an attractive option for example for entrepreneurs, given its potential for quick profitability, or similarly for large corporations that want to acquire innovative assets or intelligence that can expand their business,” Vovk said.
“But over and above traditional legal, financial, and governance due diligence during such a process, cybersecurity must be a focal point too,” Alexey further added emphasizing the indispensable need for business cybersecurity.
Third-party services availed by the acquired company must be checked for how well they have cybersecurity infrastructure set to safeguard its client’s data.
With mergers and acquisitions comes added responsibilities for interconnected teams that will now need to work in tandem with the merged digital infrastructure.
Several processes and data will be connected and it must be handled keeping access control and endpoint security in mind. Not all data needs to be accessible to all employees. Kaspersky conducted a research among employees in the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa.
They found that 20% of employees would click on a malicious link such as sent in a phishing email. Human error amounts to a huge sum of cyber attacks posing a risk to businesses.
Hence, to avoid defaulting on cybersecurity in business operations, it is essential to follow-up with any pending, or previous cases of security breaches or vulnerabilities to be handled by IT experts and a dedicated cybersecurity team.
Media Disclaimer: This report is based on internal and external research obtained through various means. The information provided is for reference purposes only, and users bear full responsibility for their reliance on it. The Cyber Express assumes no liability for the accuracy or consequences of using this information.