Five cybersecurity strategies for cannabis companies

Cannabis companies collect an enormous amount of sensitive data. Learn about the top five strategies to protect against cyber threats.

Now that recreational cannabis is legal nationwide in Canada, licensed producers (LPs) entering the market are going to face the same types of cyber risks as any other business. Cyberattacks are becoming more prevalent, severe and sophisticated, and can have a significant negative impact on companies’ business operations, process automation, data protection and privacy.

Cyber events are hitting companies’ bottom line, brand and reputation, and cannabis companies are not be immune. Companies need to take steps to safeguard their data and operations in the short term and for the long run.

Let’s take a look at the top five strategies cannabis producers should consider.
 

Build a robust governance framework

Good governance starts with the tone at the top. If board members don’t understand the company’s cybersecurity risk, the organization will remain vulnerable to outside attacks.

Cannabis companies collect an enormous amount of sensitive data, including medical, customer, personal, financial, transactional and proprietary data. This makes them an even more tantalizing target for hackers than other businesses.

Making sure executives and board members are educated on the cyber risks the company faces will help establish a cybersecurity program that’s truly integrated with the organization’s operations and not just tacked on as an afterthought.

Companies need to recruit and develop talent that understands the importance of cybersecurity and enables a proactive, risk-aware culture. Boards, executives and risk committees want a clear picture of their cyber risk exposure and how the company’s cyber program addresses these risks.

Protect strategic intellectual property

In the competitive cannabis market, brand is a major source of value for companies so it’s important to have tight control over intellectual property. Most companies are developing cannabis-derived products that qualify for patents or drug identification numbers; a data breach that exposes such numbers could be devastating.

Companies need to include information security in overall strategy planning. An ounce of prevention can mean the difference between secure data and significant financial damage.

Setting up the organization with the necessary tools to prevent, monitor, detect and resolve breaches requires annual planning and spend. Cannabis producers should draw up a prioritized roadmap for investments in cybersecurity. This requires strategic budgeting for information security operations in line with the organization’s requirements and fosters organizational change.

Build resilience for stronger business continuity

Because cannabis companies collect a huge amount of customers’ personal identifiable data, they are of high value to cyber criminals. Ransomware attacks can expose the vulnerabilities of organizations that have outdated technology and aging infrastructure, crippling day-to-day operations.

Cannabis companies should be proactive when it comes to protecting their data and systems — the cost of being reactive is too high.