You’ve Been Hacked. Now What?

With data breaches on the rise, many companies have had to face the question of what it should do after it has been hacked.

One of the critical steps following a breach is to deal effectively with legal concerns, starting with having IT, security and other senior executives meet with corporate and external legal teams to discuss the potential implications.

Remediation of the problem could be a long process because the source of the breach may not always be readily apparent, and companies need to ensure any evidence is preserved, says Scott L. Vernick, a noted privacy attorney.

"There's always one eye toward what law enforcement or an enforcement agency may require, or litigation down the road," Vernick says.