Why cybersecurity must be top-of-mind during M&As

MERGERS and Acquisitions (M&As) have been heating up across the globe. In Singapore alone, there were a record S$23.2 billion in deals in the first half of this year, up 154 per cent from the same period a year ago.

While this high activity level might indicate a rosy outlook for companies and the market overall, M&As can also bring significant risks to an organisation. The due diligence process is designed to help mitigate that risk as best as can be done. But evaluating newer areas of risk that come with the digital age, like cybersecurity, has been slower to catch on.

In our M&A cybersecurity risk survey "The Role of Cybersecurity in M&A Diligence", we found that more than half of IT and business decision makers globally reported that their organisations encountered a critical cybersecurity issue or incident during an M&A deal that put the deal in jeopardy. Furthermore, 65 per cent of respondents in Singapore said their companies regretted making an M&A deal due to cybersecurity concerns.