Data risk is no longer confined to IT. A single breach can trigger operational disruption, litigation, regulatory scrutiny, customer notification and reputational damage at the same time.
Exterro's
Executive Playbook for Data Risk Management argues that the real weakness in many organizations is fragmentation. Privacy, eDiscovery, cybersecurity and compliance teams often respond to the same incident by following separate workflows, duplicating their efforts and producing inconsistent results.
"Cyberattacks and insider threats are accelerating," notes the playbook, "and when they occur, organizations must be able to prove — often under a microscope — that their investigative and incident response practices are timely and defensible."
A better way exists. To minimize data risk systemwide, organizations can adopt a proactive model built around a continuously updated data catalog, with consistent classification and shared workflows spanning legal, security, privacy and IT.
"Proactive leaders understand that risk will never disappear — but it can be governed," the playbook says. "When data is accurate, organized, and accessible, executives make better, faster decisions grounded in evidence rather than assumption."
How to slash eDiscovery expenses by 50% to 70%
In 2025, organizations paid out an average of $10.2 million per
data breach, according to the Exterro executive playbook, which calls the figure "a stark reminder of the financial impact of unmanaged data risk."
eDiscovery costs can soar when organizations enter litigation and encounter court demands for massive amounts of electronically stored information. In many cases, organizations will not know exactly where relevant data lives or what can be safely deleted.
Panic following an incident only makes things worse, as emergency collections, rushed forensic work and hiring outside counsel to examine poorly governed data will all multiply expenses, even as an organization is trying to prove that its defenses are sufficient and proactive.
A unified data-risk model can contain this problem before litigation even begins. The playbook recommends maintaining a live data catalog, minimizing redundant and obsolete information, and connecting legal holds directly to that catalog so preservation obligations can be triggered immediately.
By adopting such an approach, Exterro says, organizations can cut eDiscovery and investigative expenses by 50% to 70%.
"In an environment where customers, investors, and regulators all demand agility and transparency, falling behind is no longer an option," notes the report.
How to eliminate shadow IT risks
Unmanaged data and applications create blind spots that legal, compliance and security teams cannot govern effectively. According to the Exterro executive playbook, 71% of workers admit using unauthorized AI tools, adding yet another layer of shadow systems — which a
2025 IBM report found had been involved in at least 20% of data breaches.
The solution begins with discovery and classification. Organizations need to know what data they have, where it resides, who is associated with it, how it is used and whether it is redundant or obsolete.
A continuously updated catalog gives executives a common view of the environment rather than separate inventories maintained by different departments. That shared visibility makes it easier to identify unauthorized systems, apply retention and privacy policies consistently, and shrink the overall attack surface.
How to establish defensible governance across the enterprise
Defensible governance requires more than technology. The executive playbook emphasizes the value of clearly assigned responsibilities, standardized cross-functional workflows,
employee training and centralized platforms that make sure data is handled consistently across investigations and legal matters.
CISOs can integrate breach detection with legal-preservation systems so incident data is automatically tagged and retained, while legal leaders can connect holds to live data catalogs and privacy officers use classification and lineage mapping to determine which regulations or jurisdictions are implicated.
"By embedding data governance into business continuity planning — including real-time data mapping, classification, and ownership tracking — executives gain the visibility needed to manage crises with precision, evidence, and credibility," says the playbook.
The central lesson is that data risk cannot be managed effectively through independent legal, compliance and cybersecurity processes. Fragmentation makes incidents slower, more expensive and harder to defend before regulators or courts.
A unified model replaces that reactivity with continuous visibility, shared data classification, automated workflows and clear ownership. The payoff is not simply lower legal and breach-response costs. It is a stronger ability to make fast, evidence-based decisions, preserve business continuity and demonstrate responsible custodianship when scrutiny is highest.
"When data is accurate, accessible, and defensible, executives can lead with clarity, knowing that every strategic move is grounded in trusted information," the Exterro executive playbook notes. "Proactive data risk management builds the foundation for resilience, customer loyalty, and sustainable growth by transforming fragmented data control into enterprise-wide intelligence."
Click here to read the full Exterro Executive Playbook for Data Risk Management.
