The average global data breach now costs $4.4 million, according to IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach report, while the World Economic Forum reports that more than 70 percent of organisations now view cyber risk as a top business concern. Those figures reflect a broader change in how companies are thinking about information security: not as a narrow technical issue, but as a central factor in crisis management, investigations, and senior decision-making.
For firms operating in investigations and crisis advisory, this shift has been especially pronounced. Periculum Security Group, which works with high-net-worth individuals, corporations, and legal teams on sensitive matters, has seen information security move from a supporting function to a central operational requirement. Information security was once treated largely within IT departments and kept at some distance from leadership decision-making. That distinction has weakened as breaches, data exposure, and system vulnerabilities increasingly trigger wider operational, legal, and reputational consequences.
As organisations adopt frameworks such as ISO 27001 to formalise how information is managed and protected, the role of information security is continuing to expand. It is no longer only about preventing breaches; it is also about maintaining control over critical information throughout a crisis.
Why Investigations Now Depend on Secure Information
Corporate investigations increasingly rely on digital evidence. Internal disputes, fraud inquiries, due diligence reviews, and reputational matters are shaped by access to emails, messaging platforms, cloud systems, and third-party data.
For organisations like Periculum Security Group, where investigations often involve multiple jurisdictions and stakeholders, the integrity of that information is essential from the outset. When systems are not secure, investigations can be compromised before conclusions are even reached. Evidence may be altered, accessed prematurely, or exposed to unintended parties.
“Clients are often trying to understand what has happened while managing who has access to that information at the same time,” said Oliver Laurence, Group CEO of Periculum Security Group. “If that control is weak, the situation can escalate very quickly.”
The scale of exposure continues to grow. The UK’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025 found that 43 percent of businesses reported a cyber incident within the previous year, many involving third-party systems. This reflects a broader shift in how investigations operate – within increasingly complex and interconnected data environments.
A Crisis Is Now Also an Information Problem
Crises that appear operational often have an underlying information dimension. A workplace allegation may require access to confidential personnel records. A financial dispute may involve cross-border data sharing. A reputational issue may depend on how quickly and accurately information can be verified.
Periculum Security Group’s work across high-stakes cases highlights how often information becomes the central point of pressure. When data is fragmented, delayed, or compromised, decision-making becomes distorted. Leaders may act on incomplete or incorrect assumptions, increasing the likelihood of escalation.
Laurence notes that the consequences rarely remain contained. “When information is mishandled, the impact rarely stays contained,” he said. “It affects legal strategy, client relationships, and the speed at which decisions can be made.”
This has contributed to the growing adoption of structured standards such as ISO 27001, particularly among firms handling sensitive investigations and advisory work. These frameworks provide consistency in how information is secured, accessed, and managed during high-pressure situations.
Why Organisations Are Rethinking Crisis Readiness
The integration of information security into crisis management is changing how organisations prepare for disruption. Traditional crisis planning has often focused on communication strategies and operational continuity. Increasingly, attention is shifting toward how information is handled throughout an incident.
For Periculum Security Group, this means aligning investigative work, advisory services, and information governance into a single framework. It requires understanding where critical data is stored, who can access it, and how it moves across internal and external stakeholders.
Research from the UK government’s Cyber Security Longitudinal Survey shows that organisations with continuous monitoring and defined governance structures respond more effectively to incidents and experience fewer secondary failures. This suggests that resilience is closely tied to the quality and control of information available during a crisis.
Crises are becoming more interconnected across operational, legal, and reputational domains, making control over information a defining factor in how they unfold. For firms operating at the intersection of investigations and crisis management, information security is no longer a supporting function – it is part of the core decision-making environment.
