Breach Notification

The process of formally informing affected parties (users, customers, regulators, etc.) that a security breach has occurred which may have compromised sensitive data. Many laws and regulations require organizations to provide timely breach notifications.

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From an SMB perspective, breach notification typically means telling your customers (and sometimes government authorities) that their data was exposed or stolen, so they can take protective actions.

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For example, if a retailer's database of customer emails and passwords is hacked, the company should notify those customers to reset passwords and monitor their accounts. A good breach notification is honest about what happened, what data is involved, what the company is doing in response, and what steps the individuals should take. Beyond legal obligation, being transparent and prompt with notifications is important for maintaining trust - it shows you take the incident seriously and respect the people affected.

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On the flip side, BrightShield's platform includes proactive "breach notifications" in a slightly different sense: integration with services like Have I Been Pwned will alert administrators if an employee's email/password appeared in a known third-party breach, so the company can act (e.g., reset that password) before the employee is directly compromised. In either case, the theme is the same - timely awareness and communication about breaches to minimize harm.