Data Breach Response and Crisis Management
A cybersecurity incident or data breach is a nightmare scenario for any organization. When unauthorized access, loss, or destruction of data occurs, the first 24-72 hours, the so-called "Golden Hours," are crucial. Mistakes made during this time—panic, concealment of facts, or incorrect communication—can lead to devastating financial fines, reputational destruction, and criminal liability. The Data Breach Response service is your emergency assistance during a crisis. Our team gets involved immediately to manage legal risks and ensure the situation is controlled within the bounds of the law.
Our response service covers the full cycle from incident detection to closure. Specialists offer:
- Incident Identification and Classification: Rapid assessment of whether the event constitutes an "incident" under the law and the scale of the threat.
- Fulfillment of Legal Obligations: Managing the process of informing the Personal Data Protection Service (and other regulators if necessary) within statutory deadlines.
- Crisis Communication Strategy: Drafting statements for clients, partners, and media to maintain transparency without causing panic.
- Evidence Collection and Preservation: Overseeing the process to maintain digital trails (logs, files) for future investigations or litigation.
- Coordination with IT and Security Teams: Legal support for technical recovery efforts to ensure important legal evidence is not lost during restoration.
Practical scenarios are diverse. For example, a company's servers are hit by a Ransomware attack. Management faces a dilemma: pay the ransom or not? A lawyer assesses the legal risks of payment (e.g., funding sanctioned individuals). In another case, an employee accidentally sends a client database to the wrong recipient. This is a classic breach. The lawyer helps the company immediately request data deletion from the recipient and assess the risk to decide if subjects need to be informed. Loss of a laptop or memory stick containing unencrypted personal data is also common.
In Georgia, this field is regulated by the Law on Personal Data Protection and the Law on Information Security (for critical subjects). The law strictly mandates that the regulator must be notified of an incident no later than 72 hours after discovery. Delay automatically results in a fine. Additionally, the law obliges the company to inform the data subject if the incident poses a high risk to their rights.
Working with a lawyer during a crisis is a 24/7 operation. The first step is "triage"—assessing the severity of the situation. Then, a notification is written to the regulator (even with preliminary, incomplete information to meet the deadline). Parallelly, communication with victims is prepared. The lawyer also participates in the internal investigation to determine the responsible person and prevent similar cases in the future.
Legal.ge gives you access to lawyers with crisis management experience. When a breach occurs, time works against you. Do not try to hide the problem—it will only increase the damage. Get professional legal help and protect your organization at its most difficult moment.
Updated: ...