The role of a breach counselor (breach coach)

A breach counselor (also known as a breach coach) is an attorney with expertise in cybersecurity and related legal frameworks. A breach counselor’s responsibility is to understand the data hosted by an affected organization and develop an understanding of the respective legal implications for the organization because of the cybersecurity incident or breach. Typically, breach coaches are retained when there is a risk of litigation due to the impact of the security incident or breach (for example, unauthorized disclosure of private and sensitive data leading to identity fraud against customers) and as a result, breach coaches provide recommendations and legal advice to the affected organization as they navigate and respond to the incident.

Breach coaches can also represent the organization in a court of law should the matter go to court, but in most cases, an organization retains breach coaches to identify the organization’...