No Result
View All Result
SUBSCRIBE | NO FEES, NO PAYWALLS
MANAGE MY SUBSCRIPTION
NEWSLETTER
Corporate Compliance Insights
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Explore Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Well-Being at Work
    • Leadership and Career
    • Opinion
  • Vendor News
  • Career Connection
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Library
    • Whitepapers & Reports
    • eBooks
    • CCI Press & Compliance Bookshelf
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Explore Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Well-Being at Work
    • Leadership and Career
    • Opinion
  • Vendor News
  • Career Connection
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Library
    • Whitepapers & Reports
    • eBooks
    • CCI Press & Compliance Bookshelf
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Corporate Compliance Insights
Home Data Privacy

New SEC Guidance Prioritizes Cybersecurity Disclosures for Public Companies

by Michael Magrath
April 6, 2018
in Data Privacy, Featured
biometric screening of a thumbprint

The Case for a Risk-Based Approach

New SEC rulings on cybersecurity disclosures for public companies went into effect just a month ago, acknowledging the rapidly evolving nature of cybersecurity threats and the increasing sophistication of attacks, including the use of stolen credentials, malware, ransomware and phishing. The overwhelming number of corporate breaches can be traced back to the use of stolen credentials or weak passwords combined with inadequate authentication methods. Too many companies still rely on decades-old methods of security, which are insufficient in today’s environment. What does this mean for your organization? Consider a risk-based, layered approach to security. 

Cyberattacks are not going away any time soon and, as a regulator, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission clearly understands the impact cybersecurity, or lack thereof, can have on a public company, its employees, customers, shareholders and the stock market in general. On February 26, 2018, the SEC published guidance to assist public companies in preparing disclosures about cybersecurity risks and incidents. The guidance addresses “the importance of cybersecurity policies and procedures and the application of disclosure controls and procedures, insider trading prohibitions and Regulation FD and selective disclosure prohibitions in the cybersecurity context.”

In its guidance, the SEC appropriately notes, “hackers use a complex array of means to perpetrate cyber-attacks, including the use of stolen access credentials, malware, ransomware, phishing, structured query language injection attacks and distributed denial-of-service attacks.”

Verizon’s 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report cites that 81 percent of hacking-related breaches leveraged either stolen and/or weak passwords. Yet, Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2017 State of Authentication Report found that a full 100 percent of enterprises continue to use passwords.

GDPR’s Impact on the SEC’s Guidance

The survey results above make me think of the witty definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  That may be humorous, but when it comes to protecting customer data, it’s not very funny.  The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is quite clear in that customer data is owned by the citizen and not owned by a public company or any other enterprise.  I can assure you that GDPR auditors will come down hard on organizations “protecting” data with passwords.

According to PwC, 92 percent of U.S. multinational companies cited compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as a top data protection priority. GDPR takes effect May 25, 2018, and its global reach affects many companies, public and private, worldwide.  ENISA – the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security – released guidelines on how to take the appropriate measures to comply with the GDPR. In the area of access control and authentication, ENISA recommends implementing two-factor authentication in high-risk cases and in certain medium-impact cases, as follows:

“Two-factor authentication should preferably be used for accessing systems that process personal data. The authentication factors could be passwords, security tokens, USB sticks with a secret token, biometrics, etc.”

Why Multifactor Authentication Matters

Apart from federal intervention and enforcement, however, cybersecurity starts with identity.  There are secure ways, available today, to verify identities and authenticate individuals accessing sensitive data.

Multifactor authentication (MFA) is an integral part of a risk-based approach to cybersecurity and, amidst the discovery of 1.4 billion stolen clear text credentials, is fully capable of producing enough force to put the final nail in the password coffin.

One could argue that security vendors have achieved, or are very close to achieving, a balance between security and usability. Adoption of FIDO Alliance standards is becoming more mainstream, and biometric-enabled mobile devices have opened the floodgates to innovation. Mobile devices are equipped with a high-quality camera capable of capturing images and video of the user’s face and microphones to leverage voice-recognition technology.  Fingerprints, voice and facial recognition and adaptive authentication are being used across many industries.  As a result, compliance may be just a matter of deploying technology already in use by customers, for internal controls.

The SEC’s guidance states that they “don’t expect public companies to publicly disclose specific, technical information about their cybersecurity systems, the related networks and devices or potential system vulnerabilities in such detail as would make such systems, networks and devices more susceptible to a cybersecurity incident. Nevertheless, we expect companies to disclose cybersecurity risks and incidents that are material to investors, including the concomitant financial, legal or reputational consequences.”  The SEC isn’t requiring that every public company deploy MFA.  However, I would be hard pressed to find any company that has followed a risk-based approach and is granting access to customer’s personally identifiable information and corporate assets without MFA.


Tags: Data BreachGDPRSEC
Previous Post

Protiviti and ISACA: IT Audit Benchmarking Survey

Next Post

5 Predictions About Blockchain and Compliance

Michael Magrath

Michael Magrath

Michael Magrath is vice president of global standards and regulations at OneSpan and is responsible for aligning OneSpan’s solution roadmap with standards and regulatory requirements globally. He is co-chair of the FIDO Alliance’s government deployment working group and is on the board of directors of the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA). He also served as a member of the board of directors for the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group’s (IDESG) and was chair of the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) identity management task force. Prior to OneSpan, he served as director for identity solutions for DrFirst, a leading U.S. health IT solution provider and focused on streamlining and securing the identity management process for healthcare providers nationwide and increasing the adoption of electronically prescribing controlled substances (EPCS).

Related Posts

data breach

Sobering Reality: Drizly Order Indicates Officers May Face Personal Liability for Data Breaches

by Baker Donelson
February 1, 2023

The FTC says Drizly’s CEO James Cory Rellas was alerted to a potential security loophole two years before a data...

esg sec clawback confusion

Unpacking the SEC’s Executive Compensation Clawback Rule

by John Peiserich
January 4, 2023

The SEC has finalized its long-awaited clawback policy mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, issuing final rules that are scheduled to...

cci top 10 stories collage

Top 10 Compliance Stories of 2022

by Jennifer L. Gaskin
December 7, 2022

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This time last year, we summarized the top 10 ESG...

eu flag

Preparing Your Company for the Latest GDPR Data Transfer Developments & Upcoming Deadlines

by Kevin L. Coy
November 30, 2022

An EU court decision and legislative moves in the U.S. and UK make compliance with privacy regulations increasingly difficult. Arnall...

Next Post
concept of blockchain on purple and red background

5 Predictions About Blockchain and Compliance

Compliance Job Interview Q&A

Jump to a Topic

AML Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption Artificial Intelligence (AI) Automation Banking Board of Directors Board Risk Oversight Business Continuity Planning California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Code of Conduct Communications Management Corporate Culture COVID-19 Cryptocurrency Culture of Ethics Cybercrime Cyber Risk Data Analytics Data Breach Data Governance DOJ Download Due Diligence Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) ESG FCPA Enforcement Actions Financial Crime Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) GDPR HIPAA Know Your Customer (KYC) Machine Learning Monitoring RegTech Reputation Risk Risk Assessment SEC Social Media Risk Supply Chain Technology Third Party Risk Management Tone at the Top Training Whistleblowing
No Result
View All Result

Privacy Policy

Founded in 2010, CCI is the web’s premier global independent news source for compliance, ethics, risk and information security. 

Got a news tip? Get in touch. Want a weekly round-up in your inbox? Sign up for free. No subscription fees, no paywalls. 

Follow Us

Browse Topics:

  • CCI Press
  • Compliance
  • Compliance Podcasts
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data Privacy
  • eBooks Published by CCI
  • Ethics
  • FCPA
  • Featured
  • Financial Services
  • Fraud
  • Governance
  • GRC Vendor News
  • HR Compliance
  • Internal Audit
  • Leadership and Career
  • On Demand Webinars
  • Opinion
  • Resource Library
  • Risk
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Well-Being
  • Whitepapers

© 2022 Corporate Compliance Insights

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Explore Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Well-Being at Work
    • Leadership and Career
    • Opinion
  • Vendor News
  • Career Connection
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Library
    • Whitepapers & Reports
    • eBooks
    • CCI Press & Compliance Bookshelf
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Corporate Compliance Insights

Welcome to CCI. This site uses cookies. Please click OK to accept. Privacy Policy
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT