A survey of over 250 U.S. general counsel and litigation leaders found that cybersecurity and data protection are likely to become top drivers of legal disputes in 2022 and beyond.

The 2021 Annual Litigation Trends Survey from Norton Rose Fulbright identified how the rise in technology adoption across the workforce, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to an increase in vulnerable user data. According to the survey, 66% of respondents felt more exposed to cybersecurity and data protection disputes, compared to less than half of respondents (44%) in 2020. Twenty-four percent of litigation leaders named cybersecurity and data protection as among legal disputes of most concern.

The changing data privacy legal landscape has influenced the risk of cybersecurity litigation, according to the survey results. Respondents noted three strategies they enacted in their organizations to mitigate cybersecurity and data breach risks:

• Employee training was seen as the most useful tool in decreasing cyber risk among respondents.
• Data encryption was used by respondents to decrease employee and third-party risk.
• Internal reviews included monitoring shifts in data privacy legislation and updating software to protect against emerging cybersecurity threats.

For more information about the survey results, click here.