When you’ve spent years building your business, you’ll want to maximize your business’ value when it comes time to sell. Characteristics that influence value include strong cashflow, reputation, competitive advantage, growth industry, great staff and more. Your cyber security posture will also influence the sale price and terms. On the other hand, if you’re on the buyer side of an M&A, cyber security risks also influence the amount you’re prepared to pay.

Having a strong cyber security message and practices that withstands buyer scrutiny can help maximize the value gained from a sale - and prevent unnecessary delays in the purchasing process. Demonstrating a commitment to cyber security shows potential buyers that you have taken the necessary precautions to protect valuable assets.

Demonstrating a commitment to security

Two of the best ways you can demonstrate this are:

1. Make sure your external attack surface is in good shape by monitoring it yourself and cleaning up where practical. Risks and vulnerabilities in the attack surface are public information that bad actors as well as acquirers can see. So, it is worthwhile paying attention to. Think of it as your shop window where if the glass is cracked it will be less appealing to acquirers (and more appealing to bad actors). Tools like Glasstrail can help with this as it reveals the issues and risks that are obvious to bad actors across a range of open-source intelligence(OSINT) from web, email, and DNS to account credentials and more.
   ‍
2. Get compliant with a recognised framework. Something like the ISO27001 standard provides comfort to acquirers that you take security seriously and can expedite the due diligence process. Going through the process of getting certified is arduous but can make all the difference in the end to protecting you, and the value of the asset you are building.

Key takeaways

If you are divesting part of your business, assessing cyber security challenges during and after the separation process is critical. By proactively examining and revisiting potential cyber security risks throughout the process, businesses can ensure the planned security measures are effective. Final validation, post-divestment is an important step to ensure all assets are in the right place and accounted for through external scans.

Where possible, planning a sale in advance will give you the best chance of achieving the sale price you’ve dreamed of. And remember, cyber security surprises kill deals quickly – so keep your attack surface in order throughout the sale processes.

Glasstrail helps both sellers and buyers understand the true nature of the risks in their external attack surfaces. See what it discovers about your domain today – free for 14 days, no credit card needed.

‍

‍