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Cybersecurity Case Study: Securely Integrating a Business Network After a Merger and Acquisition

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a proven way to accelerate growth, but it brings cybersecurity challenges too. Businesses worry a cybersecurity incident could jeopardize a deal or lower the valuation.

A report by PwC, which aggregated data from several related studies, underscored two points that illustrate this concern. First, PwC cites a 2017 survey, conducted by Donnelley Financial Solutions and Mergermarkets, which found about 80% of dealmakers uncovered data security issues in about one-quarter of their deals over the previous two years.

Second, the consulting firm notes that two high profile breaches disclosed by Yahoo shaved 7% off its price when it was being acquired by Verizon. Those breaches also forced the seller to share any future risk related to cybersecurity. This is an important point, because the cybersecurity risks facing businesses employing an acquisition strategy, endure event after a deal is closed.

Cybersecurity and M&A: A Healthcare Case Study

One large healthcare provider, we worked with faced this exact challenge.

The company was looking for a way to securely connect to the networks of newly acquired doctors’ practices. While the enterprise’s network was highly secure, the level of security among the networks within the medical practices they were acquiring varied. Bricata was able to help them securely connect the networks of all the acquired practices to their own.

How?

In essence, the company placed a Bricata appliance between their network and that of the practices being acquired. That appliance provided the large health care provider with the assurance it could detect threats and suspicious behavior and protect their network.

If you’re interested in the details, we’ve recently published a new case study (no registration is required). It’s a useful reference for anyone weighing cybersecurity risks in M&A – and especially for those in the healthcare security community.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
Healthcare Needs Cybersecurity Pros that Anticipate What Threat Actors Will Do Next [Q&A with Dr. Rebecca Wynn]


*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Bricata authored by Bricata. Read the original post at: https://bricata.com/blog/cybersecurity-merger-acquisition/