The ROI of Privacy Management

Privacy Management Identifies and Mitigates Risk

Security and risk mitigation are top priorities, whether you’re a CISO focused on strengthening security, a compliance officer managing risk, or a CFO safeguarding the company’s financial interests. But many organizations carry excessive risk, especially related to sensitive data and access:

  • In one global risk report, the average company found 534,4651 sensitive files; 
    17% of all sensitive files were accessible to every employee.
  • 53%2 of companies found over 1,000 sensitive files that were accessible to every employee.
  • IDC found that 83%3 of companies have had at least one access-related cloud data breach.
  • 60%4 of companies cite insufficient visibility and access controls as a major security threat.
  • 37%5 of consumers surveyed received notification that their personal data had been compromised in at least one account in 2023.

Often the scope of data vulnerability is so large that companies don’t know where to begin. 

Risks Are Compounding

The figures above are just the risks that we know of currently. The explosion of data, combined with the increasing use of cloud services, shadow IT, and artificial intelligence, means that companies are dealing with more risks than ever before.

Since 2021:

85%

of companies have experienced some kind of a breach.

11%

of those breaches could be traced back to shadow IT.

By this year, it’s estimated that:

60%

of malware attacks will originate from SaaS applications.

48%

of organizations are entering non-public company information into GenAI applications.

Companies need to not only mitigate the risks they know exist in the business now, but also future-proof the business against threats that are quickly evolving. 

Data Privacy Management: Your Head Start in Minimizing Risk

You can’t protect what you can’t see. Identifying and safeguarding personal sensitive data through a robust privacy program mitigates risk throughout an organization.

  • If you clearly understand where your data resides and how it’s being used, you know where to implement stronger security and access controls and minimize data.
  • By simplifying the process of mapping data and enhancing the ability of IT and risk teams to bring unauthorized software under management, teams can reduce inefficiencies, eliminate redundant services, and ensure that every tool meets the organization’s security and compliance standards.
  • As AI proliferates across the organization, a comprehensive data privacy program equips privacy, IT, and risk teams with the insights and controls necessary to mitigate risks, ensuring that AI can be integrated into your operations without compromising consumer trust or regulatory compliance.

Privacy controls and data management can help IT and security teams quickly and accurately pinpoint which systems need heightened protection, enabling them to set priorities and craft a comprehensive plan to protect the whole organization against threats.

The High Cost of Privacy Risk

Companies have faced multi-million-dollar settlements or fines in multiple cases of privacy regulation enforcement. For example, a hospital system received a fine10 of $4.75 million after failing to protect systems with protected health information, allowing an employee to access and sell patient information as part of an identity scheme. In another case, a commercial security camera provider failed to restrict employees and contractors from accessing customer videos and used them to train algorithms without user consent, resulting in a $5.8 million settlement11 with regulators.

A New Threat: Lack of Cyber Insurability

With data leaks, ransomware, malware, and even outright employee theft, cyber insurance is essential to any company’s risk mitigation strategy. But what would happen if you went to file a claim for the costs associated with a data breach, and an insurer denied your claim because you couldn’t demonstrate that the breached data was lawfully consented to for collection and processing? This is an increasingly likely scenario, with 31%12 of insurance underwriters viewing privacy violations as their primary concern for 2024. Insurers may limit coverage for wrongful/nonconsensual data collection, increasing risk amidst data privacy lawsuits.

How Can Osano Help Identify and Mitigate Risk?

Osano plays a critical role in identifying and mitigating risk, enabling organizations to proactively address potential compliance gaps, reduce exposure to privacy violations, and manage data responsibly.

Osano not only helps ensure compliance with evolving privacy regulations but also enhances security and financial risk mitigation, allowing teams to be part of a more holistic and collaborative approach to risk management and enforce a strong privacy posture across the organization.

  • Osano Data Mapping provides a comprehensive view of your data ecosystem and the actual flow of data across the organization, helping you meet compliance requirements, assess risk, and support data minimization.
  • Osano’s Vendor Privacy Risk Management helps identify, track, and mitigate potential third-party data privacy risks in your vendor ecosystem by analyzing hundreds of data points in vendor security and privacy documentation.
  • Together, Osano’s Cookie Consent and Unified Consent & Preference Hub ensure user data is consented to, properly recorded, and easily auditable, bolstering the value of your data and meeting evolving obligations, such as those related to cybersecurity insurance.
  • Identify, quantify, manage, and communicate privacy and data risks to the organization with Osano Assessments, its collaboration functionality, and integrations with Osano’s Data Mapping and Vendor Privacy Risk.
  • With Osano Data Mapping, unlock a complete view of personal and sensitive information—its storage, movement, and ownership—to help organizations better minimize data collection and limit potential exposure of data in the event of compromise.
  • Automate both SRRs and consent management, reducing the risk of human error and non-compliance, including the ability to notify sub-processors of data when subject rights requests are received. This helps reduce the likelihood of fines, penalties, and reputational harm to the organization.
  • Evaluate the risk of processing personal information in AI systems with Osano’s AI Assessment Template.

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