Cybersecurity and Trade Secret Protection

In order to protect a trade secret, you first have to be able to establish that it is a secret, and that means demonstrating that “reasonable” steps have been taken to keep it that way. These steps now include intensive efforts at cybersecurity, with “early and continuous involvement by the legal team,” says this Today’s General Counsel article. Security watchdogs need to bear in mind that most trade secret theft – more than 90 percent according to some studies – is carried out either by employees or business partners. This article lays out the parameters of cybersecurity risk and discusses existing frameworks and standards that address it.