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ARTICLE · 20 DECEMBER 2017

Top 10 Topics For Directors In 2018: Cybersecurity Threats

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The stakes will continue to rise for boards in connection with cybersecurity in 2018. The past year has redefined the upward bounds of the megabreach.

United StatesTechnology
Michelle Reed
Michelle Reed
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Cybersecurity threats

The stakes will continue to rise for boards in connection with cybersecurity in 2018. The past year has redefined the upward bounds of the megabreach. The Yahoo! hack (three billion accounts) forced Yahoo! to accept a $350 million decrease in purchase price from Verizon. The Equifax hack, affecting 143+ million individuals, and exposing the social security numbers of nearly half of the adult U.S. population, resulted in the ouster of the CEO and a shakeup of the board. Additionally, the fallout from the Uber breach, affecting 57 million riders and drivers, is ongoing.

Ransomware threats shut down major multinational companies for days and have increased fourfold in the past year. SEC itself fell prey to a cyberattack, with the breach undisclosed for nearly a year. As a result, the next year will likely bring increased state and federal regulation of cybersecurity. As SEC Co-Directors of Enforcement Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin warned,

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