The Evolution of Cyber Risks in M&A, Rebalancing Approaches and Countermeasures in a Growing Threat Landscape
53% of surveyed organizations report they have encountered a critical cybersecurity issue or incident during an M&A that put the deal into jeopardy, according to ForeScout (“The Role of Cybersecurity in M&A Diligence“). As such, visibility into key risks and determining actionable priorities are critical components of the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) lifecycle. Although the role of cybersecurity in M&A, especially during ‘due diligence’ is nothing new to the industry, it is too often seen as a check-box activity, leaving many issues underestimated, unidentified, or even unseen. Today, threat actors are increasingly targeting M&A announcements themselves, or indicators of a potential transaction – to extract leverage – using leaked deal data, phishing schemes, and ransomware to exploit periods of organizational transition and distraction. Now more than ever, organizations must proactively evolve their cybersecurity strategies, rebalancing due-diligence approaches and strengthening countermeasures to keep pace with a rapidly growing and increasingly sophisticated threat landscape. The Pace of Chance As the risk and threat landscape has significantly evolved in recent times, approaches to gain risk visibility and assess business level impacts for M&A has fallen behind. These must steadily evolve to position success and manage risk liabilities that are increasing in impact magnitude, with impacts spanning beyond cyber breaches into large scale reputational damage, costly legal affairs, and impacts to market capitalization for public companies as highlighted examples. Some notable and issues warranting heightened concern include: Change Influencers At a macro scale – heightened geopolitical tensions and geostrategic influences are placing certain industries and demographics at increased risk. This is often the realm of nation state actors or their ‘professional’ affiliates. Impacted organizations may include: Key Areas to Consider Enhancing: 1. Data Ecosystem Leakage and Exfiltration: Shadow IT, and Assets in an ‘under managed’ and/or ‘under configured’ state: Data Boundaries and Operational Processes and Behaviors: 2. Attack Surface and Reconnaissance 3. Legacy Debt Accumulation 4. Technology Licensing Hangovers 5. The Role of The Security Tech Stack In conclusion: In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, cybersecurity is no longer optional in M&A—it’s mission-critical. Organizations must move beyond checkbox due diligence, proactively identifying and addressing risks before they can jeopardize a deal. Only by rebalancing strategies and strengthening defenses can companies protect deal value and emerge more resilient in an era defined by digital risk. In closing: