M&A Cybersecurity

Uncover Deal Breakers & Deal Changers

Pre-Acquisition Diligence

During the pre-acquisition phase, the acquiring company conducts a thorough security due diligence process to identify and assess the target company’s security posture and potential vulnerabilities. This includes evaluating the target company’s security policies, procedures, and controls, as well as identifying any potential security risks or liabilities that could impact the value of the acquisition. Typical activities during security diligence include:

• Evaluate security ecosystem synergies
• Assess cyber program maturity
• Conduct 3rd party penetration test
• Review impact & remediation of any disclosed, historical breaches
• Search for indicators of an active or prior compromise

Deal Execution

During the acquisition phase, security due diligence continues to be a key consideration. This includes negotiating the terms of the acquisition with respect to security considerations, as well as reviewing and assessing any security-related warranties or indemnities offered by the target company. Ensuring that the target company’s security posture meets the acquiring company’s standards is critical in order to protect the value of the acquisition. Typical activities during deal execution include:

• Determine if material risks uncovered are deal breakers
• Renegotiate deal value based on risks uncovered
• Negotiate any security-related reps & warranties
• Negotiate any security-related escrows, indemnities and future liabilities

Post Acquisition

After the acquisition is completed, security due diligence continues in the post-acquisition phase. This includes integrating the target company’s security policies, procedures, and controls into the acquiring company’s overall security program, as well as identifying and addressing any gaps or weaknesses that were not identified during the pre-acquisition and acquisition phases. Some specific actions that might be taken during this phase include:

• Plan security ecosystem integration
• Design zero-trust blueprint and implement solution
• Institute managed detection and response monitoring
• Institute managed attack surface and monitoring

Avoid the Hidden Costs of Insecure M&A

Trust but Verify
Ingest the assets you have and complement with external scanning to get a full picture.
Insider Threat Exposed
See where backdoors or inadvertent access may be provided.
Identify Issues
Determine the security posture and maturity of newly joining assets and teams.