As part of the damage control movement of the Weslaco city against data breach, the ISD board of trustees approved the legal assistance of Pennsylvania-based law firm Mullen Coughlin LLC.
This decision was made three days following a ransomware incident that disrupted the online learning platform of the district. Parents and staff received a phone call and email notifying them of a potential threat and related incident.
The incident prompted a warranted FBI investigation to look into the cybercrime and network security systems in place. From here, the FBI found out that the district has cyber liability insurance in case a network security event escalates.
According to Superintendent Priscilla Canales, Weslaco carries a cyber liability policy with retention of $10,000, and all expenses are covered by the insurer. Following this incident, the board of trustees decided to approve the letter from the Pennsylvania law firm.
The decision was made on December 17, when the trustees conducted a meeting. Mullen Coughlin legal firm provides services related to data breach response and security compliance. In addition, the law firm offers regulatory investigation and privacy litigation defense.
“When an organization experiences a potential or actual data security compromise, it is required by law and sometimes by contract to take certain steps to investigate and respond to the event, typically in a very short period of time,” said Mullen Coughlin.
The law firm said they provide crisis management services 24 hours a day, and seven days a week. They claim to have a speedy response to these kinds of incidents to help clients manage the risks involved in cybercrime.
Combatting Data Breach
The move to work closely with a law firm permits organizations to pre-plan strategies to limit the damage. For instance, the law firm can curate an organized data breach response to ensure that affected individuals are protected.
In Weslaco’s case, Mullen Coughlin can devise a regular investigation defense to prevent damages and penalties. Moreover, the district can take advantage of the pre-planning and compliance to get away from even bigger damages.
Due to the drastic shift to remote work, a lot of district employees can be vulnerable to attacks through email phishing. Security professionals can do as much as to protect the district database, even while IT personnel can monitor the network and security.
Cybercrime insurance provides detailed coverage in case of a security threat like a data breach.
