U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION DATA BREACH IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHY OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS MUST HAVE SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO PROTECT CLIENT ASSETS
According to an article in TechCrunch, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that a data breach exposed the photos of both travelers and vehicles traveling in and out of the U.S. As with many data breaches, an invited vendor or legitimate subcontractor accessed the data and, in turn, the government data was stolen from that vendor/subcontractor by cyber criminals.
This is a concern for all entities and individuals who are vigilant in protecting their digital assets but don’t hold the vendors and contractors they work with to the same standards.
Although cyber hygiene vetting of vendors and subcontractors already occurs in high dollar bidding situations, we believe that this will and should trickle down to virtually all outside consultant, vendor, and subcontractor work. Specifically, at some point in the not too distant future, virtually all bids for jobs by vendors, consultants, and contractors will include a verification of cyber privacy and protection policies and procedures. This will mean to be in business, big or small, you will need to establish to your clients and customers that you have (and follow) a rigorous protocol to minimize the chances that your customer or client’s digital assets will end up in the hands of criminals. [You can watch our video on the growing cyber industry and how it pertains to your business.]
For those consultants and vendors and outside contractors that consider this to be an unreasonable burden, especially those that are not digital natives, think of it this way: If a client hires you and gives you access to all his or her equipment so that you can do your job and you take that equipment back to your warehouse and leave your warehouse bay doors open all night every night without any security and it gets stolen, then the client has a legitimate claim that you were negligent in not locking up your warehouse every night to protect the equipment. Leaving your client’s digital assets unprotected is no different.
ABOUT VERNON LITIGATION
Vernon Litigation Group is based in Naples, Florida, with additional offices in Atlanta, Georgia. Vernon Litigation Group currently represents clients in financial litigation matters, including disputes relating to cyber-crime, in court, arbitration, mediation, and regulatory filings throughout the United States. Please contact us to discuss your rights if you believe you have a significant financial claim resulting from a cyber-attack or cybercrime that occurred due to the negligence of others. For more information, visit our website at https://vernonlitigation.com/ or contact Vernon Litigation Group by phone at (239) 319-4434 or by e-mail at info@vernonlitigation.com to speak with Vernon Litigation Group.