Canadian Lawyer InHouse

33 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MAY/JUNE 2018 collecting less private informa- tion to reduce its exposure," says Boyle, a litigator who regularly acts on regulatory compliance issues. One way to do that, he explains, is to require a "self-selected password" as an additional step for a customer to access a service. Given the "reputational damage" that can happen if there is a privacy breach, "the communications aspect should also be part of the planning process," says Doyle. In one of the only privacy breach class actions to date in Canada, an Ontario Supe- rior Court judge ordered much lower dam- ages against Home Depot than what the plaintiffs were seeking, in part because of the quick response by the company, an apol- ogy and assurance that customers would not be responsible for any fraudulent charges. Another area where concerns about pri- vacy breaches have had an impact is in the field of cyber-insurance. "It is still devel- oping in Canada," says David, who notes a potential benefit is the expertise that an insurer can bring if there has been a breach. "You need to determine what your risks are" when considering this type of coverage and the IT team should be one of those consult- ed in the process, he says. Given that it is still relatively new, there should be a careful review of the terms, sug- gests Backman. "The language is not yet standard. What are the carve-outs? Are there a lot of pre-conditions?" she asks. For smaller to medium-sized companies, cyber-insurance can include ongoing advice that is not available in-house in addition to "assisting with cost recovery if there is any damage," says Besharat, comparing it to that of an on-site consultant. Comprehensive response plans, effective training of employees, strong firewalls and regulatory compliance are all now essen- tial tools in the corporate world for dealing with the threat of cyberattacks. As for the character played by Danes (spoiler alert), she agreed to meet with the lone hacker in a nearby deserted warehouse and, after a few harrowing moments, beat him senseless to within an inch of his life to get her computer unlocked. It was a response plan that never would have been necessary if she had resist- ed the urge to click on the corrupted link in the first place. IH It can be regular things employees do that expose us to malfeasance. MARYANN BESHARAT, Intact Financial Corporation CORPORATE COUNSEL Connect with Find more than 4,100 corporate counsel and over 1,500 organizations along with fresh editorial content, information on deals and links to important resources. Lexpert.ca/ccca Untitled-5 1 2018-04-04 5:04 PM

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