Cybersecurity services, Privacy and Forensics

Our aim is to build a secure digital society. Our approach is built on business understanding, human insight and technology innovation.

Technology evolves as rapidly as cyberthreats

Technology has become such an integral part of a business that crimes committed through digital channels are creating fundamental problems. Mitigating them requires specialist cybersecurity services.

Ireland is becoming a global hub of the technological ecosystem and is facing more cybersecurity challenges than ever before. Cybercrimes such as the rapid distribution of malware, targeted phishing and theft of personal information are becoming increasingly common.

A cyberattack can be one of the most challenging and complicated problems that any organisation will face. We can support you through our experience and capabilities and make your cybersecurity your competitive advantage.

Solving the biggest cybersecurity issues

When CEOs and boards used to evaluate their threats or competitors, few considered cyberattacks. Today, the volume and concentration of data and electronic transactions, coupled with easy global access to the digital business ecosystem, magnify exposure to cyberthreats and issues.

Developing a cyber-strategy

The digital age provides a wealth of opportunities for an organisation to grow and prosper. In seizing these possibilities, you can inadvertently make yourself more vulnerable to real and increasing cyberthreats.

It's essential to have a comprehensive cyber-strategy in place that reflects the continually evolving cyberthreat landscape. It needs to be mindful of the current and target state of the security environment, and align with your business and IT objectives.

We can help you to define measures to address the complex challenges of the digital age. We can support you to identify and understand key business risks, opportunities, and cyberthreats. Our experts measure and benchmark your cyber maturity and plan and deliver security programme initiatives.

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Managing threats and vulnerabilities

New cyberthreats and vulnerabilities arise continuously, and organisations are struggling to apply fixes and mitigate risks in time. Businesses must know and understand the relevant threats and their weaknesses. This can help them prioritise and build security into their web applications and IT infrastructure.

Organisations require holistic, cost-effective and business-focused threat and vulnerability management (TVM) services. These must focus on critical risks to business operations and safeguarding crucial information assets.

Our TVM services team of experienced cybersecurity professionals and ethical hackers have the expertise you need. Their deep technical knowledge and business acumen ensure businesses effectively manage key cybersecurity risks.

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Ensuring data privacy and protection

Businesses need to survive and grow, but how can they be part of the digital economy and keep their data secure? How can they ensure compliance with data protection legislation, and have an innovative online presence? The increased portability of data and employee mobility has dramatically increased the risk of theft and accidental disclosure of sensitive information.

Some of the principal data protection concerns facing organisations today include:

  • Knowing where your data is, where it's sent, and who has access to it
  • Being able to actively monitor and prevent the misuse of data on devices
  • Recognising the confidentiality of client data can maintain reputation and enhance brand value

Our data privacy and protection services team can help businesses successfully navigate data privacy, respond to incidents and provide guidance in the selection and implementation of data protection technologies.

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Managing governance, risk and compliance

Regulators in Ireland and beyond are paying more attention to cybersecurity and technology than ever before. They expect organisations to have robust risk management frameworks. As well as focusing on what's happening inside the business, they're focused on how firms engage with third parties.

Contracting with third parties is not a new concept. However, the rate of IT outsourcing continues to gather pace. When a vendor suffers a breach or experiences an operational resilience issue that impacts a critical service, firms can't outsource accountability.

As a result, cybersecurity is high on the agenda. We help senior management and boards establish robust governance and receive better reporting of cybersecurity, third-party and IT risk management using proactive Key Risk Indicators (KRIs).

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Safeguarding your digital identity

The landscape for managing digital identities is changing rapidly. You no longer only govern access for employees and contractors, but also partners, MSPs, customers, cloud service, and even IoT devices.

Key challenges for businesses in this sense include:

  • Data breaches:
    There has been a rapid increase in high-profile data breaches over the past several years. Many have resulted from a failure to enforce user access adequately
  • Joiner, mover or leaver process:
    Users have many digital identities to access email, applications and cloud services. Not updating or removing entitlements when someone changes position or leaves the organisation can have serious consequences
  • Regulatory and audit requirements:
    Being able to provide evidence of who has access to data and what actions an administrator performed on data are two basic requirements that many organisations struggle with

We offer a range of services to help you effectively manage your digital identities and increase your security, productivity and user experience.

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Forensics and e-discovery

Storing data is easy. Discovering critical information and reconstructing activity timelines can be hard.

Legal action and litigious behaviour are real threats, especially in highly regulated industries. When faced with investigations and other complex, high-risk situations such as security incidents, the steps you take can mean the difference between success and failure.

We are the trusted, global leader in forensics, e-discovery and cyber-incident response. Our professionals help you gain clarity and confidence in your data when you need it most. We apply industry best-practice standards to ensure your most critical situations are handled in a defensible and secure manner. We deliver a sound, experience-based investigative approach to mitigate your risk when it matters most.

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Cyber-incident response

Cyberattacks can vary in terms of persistence, sophistication and impact. When attackers successfully breach the network of an organisation, basic defences may not be maintained adequately, or targeting and sophisticated techniques employed by determined well-resourced cyberattackers have broken down those defences.

A cyberattack on any organisation can cause significant brand and reputational damage. Our cyber-incident response team can help businesses navigate complex cyberattacks and investigations, and allow them to emerge stronger from what is a challenging situation.

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A framework for cyber-resilience

In a sector increasingly dependent on technology, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) provides comprehensive cybersecurity guidelines to enhance the operational resilience of financial services firms while keeping sensitive data and valuable resources secure. It sets rules for ICT risk management, incident reporting, operational resilience testing and ICT third-party risk monitoring. All regulated financial services entities in the European Union must adopt the act by 17 January 2025 and build capacity for the protection, detection, containment, recovery and repair capabilities against ICT-related incidents. By taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity, regulated financial services firms will create a more secure digital environment for their business, their customers, and the broader European financial system.

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Contact us

Pat Moran

Partner, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Tel: +353 87 754 1944

Leonard McAuliffe

Partner, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Tel: +353 87 960 3463

Will O'Brien

Director, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Neil Redmond

Director, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Tel: +353 87 970 7107

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