AI-Enabled Sensitive Data Management: A Deep Dive into HaystackID’s Protect Analytics AI® for Relativity

Real-World Success: Protect Analytics AI® in Action

Protect Analytics AI for Relativity has empowered numerous clients across multiple sectors and geographies to classify and handle their sensitive data more effectively in hundreds of engagements.

One example involved a large Europe-centric telecommunications company that experienced a security incident involving both unstructured and complex structured data. The organization engaged HaystackID’s global cyber discovery and incident response practice to analyze terabytes of data that was known to have been exfiltrated by the threat actor, in addition to other data that had potentially been compromised to determine the scope of the incident, the extent of compromised file repositories, and what (if any) access to PII/PHI, trade secrets, and other sensitive data the threat actors were able to obtain.

Although the client’s infrastructure was incapacitated, many of its human resources were offline, and limited guidance was available from the client’s SMEs as to the function and content of each database, HaystackID analyzed hundreds of individually structured data repositories, each comprised of millions of rows of data.

HaystackID deployed its Protect Analytics AI offering, which allowed the investigation to occur in a secure, scalable, and high-speed environment. In turn, the HaystackID team was able to quickly identify the most sensitive data affected by the incident. HaystackID’s combination of leading-edge technology and human expertise resulted in a complete analysis of hundreds of millions of rows of data in less than 72 hours. The HaystackID team further identified and segregated specific record sets containing sensitive PII for further analysis and privacy review.

HaystackID’s cyber, privacy, and incident response teams devised and documented a defensible method-based approach to significantly reduce the potential time and cost associated with reviewing all of the potentially affected data. Using HaystackID’s Protect Analytics AI platform, the approach provided regulators with an acceptable alternative to line-by-line analysis while also providing the client with a faster and more cost-effective solution overall. Additionally, advanced visualizations delivered via Protect Analytics’ Power BI integration allowed key client stakeholders to visualize exceptionally dense tranches of sensitive data for triage early on in the engagement. Early visualizations also allowed the legal team to gain insight into the potential location of data subjects impacted by the breach. This ultimately allowed them to understand early their global regulatory obligations across almost 80 jurisdictions where data subjects were impacted.

HaystackID worked closely with in-house and outside counsel as well as the company’s own cyber incident-response team to learn from the incident by using the HaystackID team’s output to assess ongoing and future privacy risks on a global scale. With that review, HaystackID was able to help the company reassess, revise, and restructure policies and practices to mitigate the risk of future incidents.

The project was successful in many ways. HaystackID’s use of its Protect Analytics AI and deployment of its cross-functional team of forensics, cyber discovery, incident response, privacy, and data science professionals saved the client a great deal of money (millions of pounds) while also allowing them to respond effectively in establishing breach reporting timeframes to various regulators. In addition, HaystackID’s efforts provided an opportunity for the company to build on lessons learned from the incident, setting it up for future success.

Protect Analytics AI for Relativity is a testament to HaystackID’s commitment to providing robust, efficient, and comprehensive data protection solutions. Leveraging AI’s power, Protect Analytics AI for Relativity aids in effectively classifying and safeguarding sensitive data, enabling end users to make risk-based judgments with confidence and precision, thus keeping organizations secure and compliant. As we continue to evolve with the ever-changing digital landscape, we remain dedicated to advancing and refining our tools to provide industry-leading solutions for document classification and data protection that are interoperable and integrated with Relativity.