SEC orders companies to report data breaches

Corporate giants have been handling data breaches traditionally i.e. not revealing the breaches, not offering details. They always preferred keeping mum. It won’t be an exaggeration if we say that tens of billions of dollars worth of data is compromised every year from U.S. companies and very few of it gets reported !

But that is about to change. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has formally asked corporations to report data breaches and cyber crimes. The new guidelines issued by the SEC state that publicly traded companies must report cybertheft or attack and any risks associated with data.

These guidelines have been a result of Sen. John D. Rockefeller’s initiative. “This guidance changes everything. It will allow the market to evaluate companies in part based on their ability to keep their networks secure.”

“For years, cyber risks and incidents material to investors have gone unreported in spite of existing legal obligations to disclose them,” “Intellectual property worth billions of dollars has been stolen by cyber criminals, and investors have been kept completely in the dark.”

The current regulations do not specifically talk about cyberattacks. They only expect companies to report if there is risk to their material wealth. But now companies will be forced to talk about cyberattacks, thanks to these guidelines. The guidelines might, in addition to the above, ask the companies to disclose data breaches that took place in the past.

Cyber security is being beefed up through these regulations as cyber crime is on the rise. The recent major breaches including Sony’s and Citigroup Inc have resulted into this action.

Melissa Hathaway, an ex-White House cyber coordinator said in her statement “It’ll force executives to really understand what’s going on within their corporations,”. “I think it will create the demand curve for cybersecurity.”

Which cyber-incidents will be included in the guidelines?

Cyber incidents that could materially affect products, services, relationships with customers or suppliers, or competitive conditions will be a part of these new regulations.

Here is the exact wording in the guidance:

Registrants should address cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents in their MD&A [management discussion and analysis] if the costs or other consequences associated with one or more known incidents or the risk of potential incidents represent a material event, trend, or uncertainty that is reasonably likely to have a material effect on the registrant’s results of operations, liquidity, or financial condition or would cause reported financial information not to be necessarily indicative of future operating results or financial condition

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