Fraser Tennant reports:
…. The reality is that M&A practitioners, in their quest to negotiate the best possible deal, may be less focused on the tools that are used to store and share confidential transactional data – both internally and externally. This can leave such data highly vulnerable to hackers with malicious intent.
“Threat actors often target companies in the midst of M&A activity, and more recently upon deal announcement, aiming to exploit the urgency of the situation, lack of integration or preparedness,” attests David Dunn, senior managing director at FTI Consulting. “During an already high-stakes time, this places additional pressure on organisations to understand the nature of the breach and the scope of the data impacted.”
[…]
According to a study by Forbes, 40 percent of acquiring organisations involved in an M&A transaction detected a cyber security vulnerability during the acquired company’s post-acquisition integration process.
“Data breaches are becoming more common within the lifecycle of the M&A process given that the success of a deal is dependent on both the investor company and the target company,” concurs Maggie Rose, vice president of client solutions at K2 Integrity. “This increases the threat landscape and potential entry points for attackers.
Read more at Financier Worldwide.