Digital Liability Risk: A Note on Estimating Exposure, Costs, and Implications

Digital liabilities are the unknown future costs that occur after an event related to digital assets threatens organizational value. These events emerge from: (1) an IT data breach or cybersecurity failure; (2) IT infrastructure limitations that limit future opportunities; and (3) changes in business models that are limited due to IT infrastructure. Potential digital liabilities are not fully understood and can be difficult to quantify. Derived from prior research, this research note proposes four methods, modified from existing research literature, for estimating the cost of digital liabilities prior to a digital asset compromise. We conclude the research note by discussing opportunities for future research in this area.