Item 1A. Risk Factors
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Except as set forth below, there have been no material changes in our risk factors from those previously disclosed in Item 1A of Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2023.
Our operations and products are subject to various cybersecurity risks. These risks are particularly acute in cloud-based technologies that we and other third parties operate that form a part of our solutions or that we rely on to conduct our operations. These risks may increase our costs and could damage our brand and reputation.
As we continue to direct a substantial portion of our sales and development efforts toward broader based solutions, such as SmartSense by Digi, the Digi Remote Manager and Ventus offerings, we expect to store, convey and potentially process significant amounts of data produced by devices. We have completed a number of acquisitions in recent years and have inherited a range of different systems that store, convey and potentially process data and in some cases we may be delayed or choose not to integrate these systems into similar systems used in other parts of our business. Many of the business applications that we rely upon to operate our business now exist within cloud platforms that are managed by third parties. Further, as our products and solutions are used by customers across a broad range of industries, some of our customers may be subject to heightened risk of being targeted for cyber security incidents due to the nature of their businesses and operations. These factors may add to the risk of breach by third parties.
If a cyberattack or other security incident were to allow unauthorized access to or modification of our customers’ data or our own data, whether due to a failure with our systems or related systems operated by third parties, we could suffer damage to our brand and reputation. This data may include confidential or proprietary information, intellectual property or personally identifiable information of our customers or other third parties with whom they do business. It is important for us to maintain solutions and related infrastructure that are perceived by our customers and other parties with whom we do business as providing reasonable levels of reliability and security. Despite available security measures and other precautions, the infrastructure and transmission methods used by our products and services or otherwise associated with our operations may be vulnerable to interception, attack or other disruptive problems. Continued high-profile data breaches at other companies evidence an external environment that is becoming increasingly hostile to information security. Improper disclosure of data or a perception that our data security is insufficient could harm our reputation, give rise to legal proceedings or subject our company to liability under laws that protect data, which may evolve and expand in scope over time. Any of these factors could result in increased costs and loss of revenue for us.
The costs we would incur to address and fix these incidents could significantly increase our expenses. These types of security incidents could also lead to lawsuits, regulatory investigations and increased legal liability, including in some cases contractual costs related to customer notification and fraud monitoring. Further, as the regulatory focus on privacy and data security issues continues to increase and worldwide laws and regulations concerning the protection of information continue to become more complex, the potential risks and costs of compliance to our business are expected to intensify.
Our products operate and often are used in conjunction with third party products and components across a broad ecosystem. If there is a security vulnerability any of our products or any of these third party products or components, and if there is a security exploit targeting them, we could face increased costs, reduced revenue, liability claims or damage to our reputation or competitive position.
In addition, cybersecurity is an issue that is becoming increasingly regulated. As regulations take effect or evolve, it is possible we may be unable to fully comply with these regulations. which could result in material adverse effects on our business.
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