Growth & Exits

Information Security Supply Chain

If your organization is in the process of growth, Caliber Security is available for various assessments and process standardizations. Our pre-planned assessments have structured frameworks with defined, industry specific best practices. This enable us to effectively convey our information security and privacy risk assessments in terms that are meaningful to finance and larger executives.

Our services include:

• Supply Chain & Process Standardization

• Merger & Acquisition Attestation

• Investor / Due Diligence Evaluation

Supply Chain & Process Standardization

When you have multiple suppliers dealing with and sharing secure data, there can be an issue of who’s in charge of the accounts. So the question becomes, how do you federate? How do you standardize processes to get everyone in the supply chain protected against vulnerabilities in the system? In cyber security, any one organization within the chain is only as strong as that of the weakest member. A determined attacker will likely identify the organization with the weakest information security within the supply chain, and use these vulnerabilities in their systems to gain access to other members. We can help your organization understand your information security risks, not only in your internal environment, but also for all the actors involved in the supply chain.

Merger and Acquisition Attestation

Business growth may be achieved through different strategies, whether joining forces with another company through a mutual company merger, a direct buy out of another company, or being bought out. Achieving and sustaining growth objectives may include increased efficiencies, advanced technology or competitive advantage.

Whether a conglomerate acquisition or horizontal/vertical merger, the traditional priority is often a financial audit, detailing assets, liabilities and return on investment during the due diligence phase; however, decision makers for information-centric companies now often include a detailed review of information governance, security, privacy and compliance. Smart merger and acquisition business includes risk assessments that include enumeration of assets and threats, current infrastructure, security programs and their components, vulnerability scans, and surveys of historic incidents and responses. This process allows for proper disclosure and assessment of risk, with no surprises at the time of closing and signing on the dotted line.

Regardless of the path to growth, information security merger and acquisition due diligence assessments and process reviews should be a major part of the merger and acquisition evaluation process. If relevant risks have no controls or are left unmanaged, this may lead to a delay of the merger and acquisition business transaction or jeopardize the deal. Decision makers must be proactive to evaluate risk levels early in the engagement process.

It is critical that the assessment of potential information security vulnerabilities starts at the beginning of the merger and acquisition evaluation process, and continues through integration and post-integration.

Caliber Security consultants are experts in information security merger and acquisition due diligence services to evaluate and identify risk factors relevant to the merger and acquisition process, which are key decision points considering the large amount of sensitive data being transferred between organizations. Caliber Security supports organizations to identify risks and vulnerabilities that may allow adversaries to launch malicious attacks, steal data or intellectual property, or attempt to disrupt a business.

Midstream

Mergers and acquisition transactions involve the integration of numerous moving parts. At this point, process standardization plays a key role. As integration occurs, companies may be more vulnerable to attack and have more exposure. Risk may lie in the balance of control, timeline, and integration strategies if they do not include accurate assessment and due diligence of inventory early on and placing additional controls in place to monitor the process.

This timeframe is critical, as it represents a window of opportunity for data breaches and cyber security incidents to occur.

We consider contributing factors within the due diligence and evaluation process before, during and after the integration, supporting the diligence requirements of the involved parties. Our pre-planned assessments have structured frameworks, based on industry specific best practices. The Caliber Security process may include thorough review of the security program and policies, network security, application security, operations and incident response, risk assessment ratings, and security maturity metrics, and other factors relevant to safeguarding future integrated operations.

 Due diligence, investigation and evaluation from all angles, are nothing short of smart business.

An assessment will inform and advise merger and acquisition stakeholders about the security posture of the merger or acquisition targets and may highlight issues that need remediation as part of the process. Our consultants evaluate, report, and provide recommendations to address concerns and risks during the information security merger and acquisition process. Our detailed reporting enables us to easily convey our security and privacy risk assessments in terms that are meaningful to finance and senior executives. Exposing pre-closing risk conditions prior to release of merger and acquisition capital, may be customized to address your unique merger and acquisition profile.

The services below are requests we receive from the majority of our merger and acquisition clients:

• Initial Merger and Acquisition Consultation

• Merger and Acquisition Goals

• Terms and Conditions Information Disclosures

• Discuss risk factors of other parties

• Historical data breaches | Security incidents

• Threat Modeling – Risk Register

• Due Diligence | Collect Data

• Network Assets Review

• Reporting | Recommendations

• Testing

Summary / Closing – Post Deal

Smart business includes covering all the bases at the right time with the right professionals. You may never truly know what to expect until your merger and acquisition agreement is complete and connected, which makes it important to hire an independent security team to contribute as much business intelligence as possible, prior to integration.

Remember, due diligence and risk assessment should be an ongoing activity, and may be required for ongoing compliance. Caliber Security can provide an information security maintenance security plan, designed to ensure your company maintains information security controls and governance on an annual/periodic basis.

Investor Due Diligence Evaluation

Investors like to know what they’re buying. Any startup investment, public offering, acquisition should include an assessment of the functions and infrastructure of an organization, along with the financial situation and risks.

Investing capital toward a new business opportunity or business partnership involves numerous critical components such as which type of investment, what depth of investment and level of control, identifying risks, leveraging technological tools, serious planning and serious strategy. The goal of investing is to place your money to work for “you”. Investors leverage capital, in order to make money. To earn a financial return, in order to achieve a financial goal!

The goal is simple, but identifying risks that will limit or destroy your investment, is by far, the most important element to research and investigate.

Criminals, competitors, and other adversaries have attacked businesses at an alarming and increasing rate year over year, resulting in serious damage to reputation and customer trust, sometimes costing millions in losses and regulatory penalties. Information security data breaches, phishing scams, malware virus attacks, ransomware encrypting, and even internal threats affect every industry and all business types.

Is the investment opportunity you are pursuing, proactive in monitoring their network resilience?

What is their risk rating for mobile applications? When was the last time an independent cyber security engineer examined their network? These questions and more may be asked by investors and other stakeholders. The more information you obtain regarding your investment opportunity, especially information security acquisition due diligence, the better equipped you will be to make solid, effective investment decisions.

Caliber Security can work independently or work with your team to provide a detailed information security acquisition due diligence assessment of risks, gaps and vulnerabilities through a rigorous assessment based on your requirements for due diligence. The assessment process includes reviewing current security policy and programs, technology, configurations, operations and exception processes, and testing.

Our information security acquisition due diligence services deliver evaluations and detailed recommendations to ensure your anticipated investment has received in-depth and independent review. Our reports are aligned with investor approaches, concerns, and broader corporate strategy.

Our team of information security acquisition due diligence consultants, hold decades of experience in supporting both small and large investors, to uncover “red flags” which may interfere with growth opportunities.

To learn more about our information security acquisition due diligence assessment and to receive a complimentary consultation with our merger and acquisition security team, complete the “Contact Us” online form below. Capitalizing on your investment starts today!

Caliber Service Matrix