Data Mining and Breach Notification in Cyber Incident Responses
Data breaches continue to be a major problem for corporations and organizations in 2025, and the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, has recently brought enforcement actions for hacking, ransomware, and other cybercrimes. See U.S. Dept. of Justice, Former U.S. Soldier Pleads Guilty to Hacking and Extortion Scheme Involving Telecommunications Companies.
When a breach occurs, federal and state breach notification laws may require notification of details of the breach and related information not just to regulatory authorities, but also to individuals whose personally identifiable information (“PII”) and/or personal health information (“PHI) has been accessed or acquired in a way that compromised the security, confidentiality or integrity of the PII. See The Sedona Conference Incident Response Guide, 21 Sedona Conf. J. 125, 170-74 (2020). See also Foley and Lardner LLP, State Data Breach Notification Laws, 2025,. Notification might not be required if there is no reasonable likelihood of harm, PII/PHI was encrypted, the breach resulted from good-faith access or acquisition by an employee or agent of the organization, or in other special situations. Id. at 174-84. Failure to comply with the letter of breach notification statutes as to the recipients, timing, method, and content of notifications can result in fines and consumer lawsuits. Id. at 184-233.
Data mining, in which the data that has been breached is analyzed for the purpose of providing notice to affected individuals and organizations, has become one of the most complex activities and a large expense of a cybersecurity incident. Yet, the cybersecurity industry has not promulgated formal standards for repeatable and defensible methods and workflows that breach counsel and data mining providers should follow for data mining. While there are general best practices and industry guidance (e.g., from the National Institute of Standards and Technology), these do not directly prescribe standardized workflows for data mining in breach notification contexts. Consequently, different vendors and breach counsel may take different approaches, creating inconsistency. This has resulted in costs, burdens, and risks for organizations that must engage in data mining for breach notification, as well as for their counsel, insurers, and other parties affected by breaches.
A data mining workflow in cybersecurity incident response should include the following five stages and be repeatable, reproducible, and subject to audit trails.
Computer Scientists Awards
For Enquiries: info@computerscientist.net
Website: computerscientists.net
Nominate Now: https://computerscientists.net/award-nomination/?ecategory=Awards&rcategory=Awarde
When a breach occurs, federal and state breach notification laws may require notification of details of the breach and related information not just to regulatory authorities, but also to individuals whose personally identifiable information (“PII”) and/or personal health information (“PHI) has been accessed or acquired in a way that compromised the security, confidentiality or integrity of the PII. See The Sedona Conference Incident Response Guide, 21 Sedona Conf. J. 125, 170-74 (2020). See also Foley and Lardner LLP, State Data Breach Notification Laws, 2025,. Notification might not be required if there is no reasonable likelihood of harm, PII/PHI was encrypted, the breach resulted from good-faith access or acquisition by an employee or agent of the organization, or in other special situations. Id. at 174-84. Failure to comply with the letter of breach notification statutes as to the recipients, timing, method, and content of notifications can result in fines and consumer lawsuits. Id. at 184-233.
Data mining, in which the data that has been breached is analyzed for the purpose of providing notice to affected individuals and organizations, has become one of the most complex activities and a large expense of a cybersecurity incident. Yet, the cybersecurity industry has not promulgated formal standards for repeatable and defensible methods and workflows that breach counsel and data mining providers should follow for data mining. While there are general best practices and industry guidance (e.g., from the National Institute of Standards and Technology), these do not directly prescribe standardized workflows for data mining in breach notification contexts. Consequently, different vendors and breach counsel may take different approaches, creating inconsistency. This has resulted in costs, burdens, and risks for organizations that must engage in data mining for breach notification, as well as for their counsel, insurers, and other parties affected by breaches.
A data mining workflow in cybersecurity incident response should include the following five stages and be repeatable, reproducible, and subject to audit trails.
Computer Scientists Awards
For Enquiries: info@computerscientist.net
Website: computerscientists.net
Nominate Now: https://computerscientists.net/award-nomination/?ecategory=Awards&rcategory=Awarde
#DataMining #CyberIncidentResponse #BreachNotification #CyberSecurity #DataProtection #InformationSecurity #CyberThreats #IncidentManagement #DataPrivacy #CyberDefense #DigitalForensics #ThreatDetection #CyberAwareness #SecurityBreach #CyberResponse #RiskManagement #CyberAttack #DataBreach #CyberResilience #NetworkSecurity #ITSecurity #CyberResponsePlan #DataSecurity #SecurityCompliance #CyberInvestigation
Comments
Post a Comment