As your business grows and expands, you may begin to take other brands and companies into the broader umbrella of your network. Each of these companies will have their own existing cybersecurity infrastructures and protocols which they used before the merge. However, as you are now the parent company, you need to ensure that their protocols meet your standards. 

Responsibility

Cybersecurity breaches are becoming ever more common in this modern and tech-driven world we live in. Hackers are constantly trying to get to sensitive data which companies hold while the cybersecurity specialists try their best to design countermeasures against this.

As the parent company, you will be liable if your new acquisition falls victim to one of these breaches and it is therefore important that you assess each and every aspect of the new company’s data management and cybersecurity as you bring them on board. Using a professional Vendor Risk Management Cybersecurity service will help you identify where weaknesses may be.

Breaches

In the event of a violation, valuable data containing personal, professional and financial details may be stolen from the company's servers. If they cannot afford the costs of the compensation and cyber restructure themselves, you as the parent company may need to step in and help.

Global regulations are tightening and ensuring that parent companies are the ones in charge of security and control for everyone in their network; no matter how the businesses differ. An attack from one lower down vendor could result in another higher up the chain, such as your parent company. Do not take the risk; prepare a defence strategy every time you take on a new company and make sure it is continuously implemented.

Assessment

As part of the acquisition process, you need to ensure that there is adequate time spent assessing the new company’s cyber protection programs. In particular, you need to pay attention to their history - have they had any breaches in the past? If they have, what steps did they take to rectify this? Find the services of a professional who is willing to test their current defences to see how they hold up. Anything their report digs up will need to be addressed.

If you already have a network in place which is proven to work, you might want to consider passing the protocols down. While this may seem unnecessary to those in the company, it is essential to stress the need for improvements to cybersecurity. A breach targeted at them will still affect you; whether it is through your intervention to right the problem or even as serious as your own systems becoming compromised.

Don't delay; it is never to early to invest in a cybersecurity check. You must make sure that all of the companies you own are held to the same excellent standard. If one does not meet the target, you are going to need to amend that.

The acquisition is long, and some things may get forgotten during the transaction so make sure that one of those things you remember is a dedication to cybersecurity.

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