Corporate America sends its most proprietary data to its outside counsel with the hope and a prayer that it will remain secure. Patent applications, deal memos, financial plans, M&A strategy documents and more are sent routinely to outside counsel via email. Information that can move the market or have a significant strategic impact on the company is sent for action or comment, but the security of that data is never thought about by the sender … or the recipient.
Within a company, internal communications and data can easily be read by many in the company for whom access is not authorized. Hacking by those outside the company is rampant. Just read the headlines every day.
