Data Breach Assessment: Know the Full Scope.
When data exposure happens, the clock starts. Within 48 hours, we provide independent forensic analysis: exactly what was exposed, who's affected, and what you must do to comply with regulations.
Discovered a breach? Email emergency@qilabs.ai to start forensics now.
Types of Data Breaches We Assess
Data breach assessment applies to any unauthorized access or exposure scenario.
Unauthorized Access
Someone with no authorization gained access to customer, employee, or sensitive corporate data. Forensics reveal who accessed what, when, and how.
Data Exfiltration
Data was accessed and extracted from your systems (copied, downloaded, stolen). Scope includes volume, duration, and what was exfiltrated.
Misconfigured Cloud Storage
Cloud buckets, databases, or storage exposed publicly due to misconfiguration. We quantify exposure window, data sensitivity, and affected parties.
Third-Party Breach
A vendor, partner, or third-party service was breached exposing your data. We assess your data risk, notification obligations, and contractual recourse.
Insider Threat Data Leakage
An employee or contractor intentionally or accidentally leaked sensitive data. Forensics reveal scope, duration, data classification, and affected parties.
Ransomware Data Exposure
Ransomware attackers exfiltrated data before encryption. We assess what was taken, publication risk, and your disclosure obligations.
Our Data Breach Assessment Process
Five phases from initial forensics through remediation planning.
Incident Intake & Access Provisioning
We gather initial information: discovery timeline, systems affected, data types involved, and current containment status. We establish secure access to logs, databases, and system artifacts under NDA.
Forensic Investigation & Scope Mapping
Deep analysis of logs, access patterns, database activity, and system artifacts. We identify exactly what data was exposed, when, to whom, and for how long. Every detail documented.
Root Cause Analysis
We trace how the breach occurred: what vulnerability, misconfiguration, or process failure enabled unauthorized access. Understanding root cause is critical for prevention.
Regulatory Obligation Mapping
We identify all applicable regulations (GDPR, CCPA, sector-specific rules) and map your specific obligations: who must be notified, by when, in what format, and what content is required.
Remediation & Prevention Roadmap
Prioritized remediation actions, prevention controls, and monitoring recommendations. We help you plug the hole and prevent recurrence.
What You Get From Data Breach Assessment
Forensic Investigation Report
Complete technical documentation: attack timeline, forensic findings, affected systems, data exposed, access patterns, and evidence chain. Audit-ready and suitable for regulators.
Data Exposure Summary
Clear quantification of what was exposed: number of records, data types (PII, financial, health, etc.), affected users, exposure duration, and potential impact assessment.
Affected Party Registry
Comprehensive list of affected individuals with data categories exposed to each. Critical for notification obligations and victim communication.
Regulatory Notification Brief
Jurisdiction-specific guidance: applicable regulations, notification deadlines, required content, exemptions, and submission requirements. We map your exact obligations.
Remediation & Prevention Roadmap
Prioritized recommendations to fix root cause and prevent recurrence, with effort/complexity assessment for each recommendation.
Executive Summary
Board-ready summary: what happened, scope, regulatory status, and next steps. Written for business leaders, not technical staff.
Regulatory Considerations
GDPR 72-Hour Notification Clock
Under GDPR, personal data breaches must be reported to the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours. We help you meet this deadline with accurate scope determination and properly formatted notification.
Notification Obligations Vary by Jurisdiction
Different regulations have different notification timelines, form requirements, and content mandates:
- GDPR (EU): Notify authority within 72 hours if likely to result in high risk to rights
- CCPA (California): Notify affected residents without unreasonable delay, or as required by law
- Sector-Specific: HIPAA (healthcare), PCI-DSS (payment cards), and industry-specific regulations have their own timelines
- State Laws: 50 U.S. states have data breach notification laws with varying requirements
Why Accurate Scope Matters Legally
Understating breach scope creates legal risk: incomplete notifications violate regulations, triggering fines. Overstating scope causes unnecessary panic and notification costs. Accurate, independent assessment protects you by providing defensible scope determination.
Why Independent Assessment Matters for Data Breaches
When your vendor or IT team assesses their own breach, they have incentives to minimize scope. When we assess it, we don't.
- Vendor conflict: Your cloud provider has incentives to minimize the exposure they exposed. Your IT team may understate mistakes they made.
- Objective scope: We tell you how many records were actually exposed, not "probably not many."
- Regulatory defensibility: An independent forensic assessment is more defensible in regulatory proceedings than vendor self-assessment.
- Liability insurance: Many breach liability policies require independent forensics to validate claims.
- Legal protection: Third-party assessment can be protected under attorney-client privilege if engaged through counsel.
Case Study: Financial Services Firm Scope Miscalculation
The Situation: A financial services firm discovered unauthorized access to a database containing customer banking information. Internal IT assessed the exposure: ~5,000 customer records, 2-week exposure window.
The Problem: Based on internal assessment, they planned to notify 5,000 customers and proceed with a "limited" regulatory disclosure. They began notification without independent verification.
Our Finding: Our forensic analysis revealed the actual scope was much larger: 47,000 customer records affected, spanning 8 months of unauthorized access. The attacker had systematically accessed the database multiple times. Internal analysis had missed earlier access attempts due to incomplete log review.
The Impact: By discovering the true scope early, the organization:
- Corrected their regulatory notification before submission (avoiding a false/incomplete disclosure)
- Properly notified all 47,000 affected customers
- Avoided regulatory penalties for understated disclosure
- Implemented proper access logging and monitoring to prevent recurrence
- Strengthened their incident response process
Without independent forensics, this firm would have made an incomplete regulatory disclosure, creating legal liability that would have exceeded the costs of proper assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast can you deliver initial breach assessment findings?
We deliver initial findings and scope assessment within 48 hours of receiving sufficient access to logs, databases, and system artifacts. For urgent cases, we can often provide preliminary scope within 24 hours to inform immediate notification decisions.
Can you work under attorney-client privilege?
Yes. If you engage us through your legal counsel specifically for investigation under attorney direction, our findings can be protected by attorney-client privilege. This is common in breach assessments and protects your findings from discovery.
What if we've already notified customers based on initial scope? Can you still help?
Yes. We can conduct forensics to verify your initial scope or identify if additional data was exposed that wasn't initially known. If additional exposure is discovered, we help with supplemental notifications and regulatory updates.
Don't Guess Your Breach Scope. Get the Facts.
In a breach situation, speed and accuracy matter. We deliver both.
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