The Truth About Data Safety Warranties in Technology M&A

A warranty is a guarantee by a manufacturer or seller that the products purchased will not have defects for a specific period of time. In the case of technology M&A, warranties are a common tool to manage risks related to cybersecurity and availability of data.

With ransomware attacks expected to strike a company every two seconds and expected to cost businesses $265 billion by 2031, it’s not a surprise that more distributors are offering their customers a brand new kind of guarantee that includes a data security warranty. These guarantees minimize the economic risk of cyberattacks and breaches by transferring https://www.toptechno24.com/what-should-you-know-about-amazons-digital-currency legal responsibility to the vendor, and are usually provided in conjunction with cybersecurity insurance, which helps fill the gaps where insurance coverage might not be sufficient.

Security guarantees vary in their details, but typically include the loss of revenue for a company in addition to the additional expenses incurred and reputational damage that is caused by the breach. They may also include policies intended to protect legal liability, that covers the cost of letting people affected by an attack to be identified as as any fines or charges incurred from lawsuits that could be filed.

While the concept behind a data security guarantee is a good one, many of them aren’t as good. Rubrik offers a “Recovery Incident warranty” that pays for “Recovery Incident-related expenses.” However it doesn’t mean your employees will be paid for the time they spend on a recovery. For Rubrik to be able to pay they require receipts for these expenses which is an indicator.