2017 Outlook: Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

Cybersecurity and data privacy issues continued to grow in significance for multinational businesses over the past 12 months, further heightening the importance of preparing and responding in a strategic, coordinated and enterprise-wide manner in 2017.

The Trump administration has publicly provided limited details so far about its plans for cybersecurity and data privacy policy. Reports suggest that the administration intends to pursue a thorough review of the federal government’s cybersecurity policy, although no concrete steps have been taken as of the date of this publication. But even if priorities change at the federal level, the scrutiny of cybersecurity and data privacy issues that companies face from litigants, regulators, Congress, contractual counterparties and others is poised to remain high. Moreover, cyber threats and other data privacy challenges are growing, including as increasing numbers of connected devices join the Internet of Things. Effective responses will continue to depend on clear-eyed assessments of risks and broad engagement across the enterprise to mitigate them.

Key issues for companies doing business in the United States and for US businesses operating globally, as they continue to refine their cybersecurity and data privacy programs in 2017, will include:

• Ongoing regulatory scrutiny of cybersecurity and data privacy across a wide range of industries
• Continued growth of cybersecurity and data privacy litigation
• Security and privacy challenges for the Internet of Things
• Litigation and debate about law enforcement’s access to electronic data
• Evolution in international cybersecurity and data privacy governance