LEASING LAW By Robert S. Cohen, Esq. Hacked! It’s Management’s Job to Save the Company Three Actions to Protect the Business I A popular misconception is that cybersecurity preparedness applies only to the technology department. T’S 3AM…YOUR PHONE RINGS…YOUR HEART RACES… it’s your tech guy or CTO…personal credit information records on your lessees and declined lease applicants have been compromised and likely stolen…over 100,000 lessee records! The hackers also gained access to your funding and referral sources! Your customers are exposed and in jeopardy! This is no longer a technology problem…management must save the business! will also establish procedures and protocols for detecting anomalies in your network and potential breaches (TJ Maxx reported that it took approximately 14 months to discover that they were hacked). A WISP also creates a response plan to a cybersecurity breach identifying the responsibilities of management and vendors that may include companies that provide data security, public relations and insurance. Re-tention of competent counsel experienced in cybersecurity issues is also critical as your attorney will provide guidance on regulatory matters, notification requirements and pro-fessionally draft your WISP. At minimum, your WISP will be a checklist of what to do both before and during a crisis. A WISP is now mandated or strongly recommended for most companies in the equipment leasing and finance in-dustry pursuant to the Federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the regulations of the Office of Comptroller of Currency and/or other governing agencies. What will you do? You are bombarded with questions. How will I handle 100,000 angry inquiries? What will I say to customers? Will this be reported to the media? Am I obligated to report it to governing agencies? How will this impact my lines of credit? Can this be remedied? How? How much will it cost? Will I be sued? By whom? This scenario may be avoided if you start to prepare now. Cybersecurity hacks make headlines regularly. Whether it is JP Morgan Chase, Sony, Target or the unexpected email from a friend that just does not look right, we are all under attack. Even when you have a sophisticated security network, it is naïve and irresponsible not to be prepared to protect your company from the horrors of being hacked. A popular misconception is that cybersecurity prepared-ness applies only to the technology department. To the con-trary, dealing with the fallout of being hacked immediately becomes one of the most important issues facing manage-ment. This breach of confidential information can put your company out of business and only management can save it. This article offers the three-step preemptive strike that will enable management to successfully prepare and mini-mize the impact of being hacked. Action 2: Hire an attorney experienced in cybersecurity The smoking gun…If your company hires outside vendors to perform technology and other tasks, you are vulnerable. For example, using an outside computer security consultant will provide your company with a series of reports detailing your network and highlighting areas for improvement. Most companies will not address all of these recommendations. Subsequently, if your company is sued because of a cyber breach, there is now a report in your file identifying prob-Preemptive strike ACTION 1: Create a WISP ACTION 3: ACTION 2: Hire an attorney experienced in cybersecurity Buy “proper” cybersecurity insurance Action 1: Create a WISP A written information security plan or “WISP” is directly linked to the company’s suc-cess of recovery. It creates your speed, efficiency and effectiveness to respond. It also may limit your liability. A WISP is a comprehensive document or handbook that will allow you to frame and ad-dress most cybersecurity issues. It will assist in the protection of your network and databases by identify-ing vulnerable assets, who has access to them and how the security surrounding them can be improved. A well-drafted WISP 48 MARCH/APRIL 2016 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE SHUTTERSTOCK