Our operations depend on our ability to protect our production and corporate information technology services from interruption or damage from various threats, including cyber-attacks, denial-of-service events and other system and network disruptions, social engineering, unauthorized entry, insider threats, rogue employees or contractors, computer malware or other means of causing security breaches or incidents. Although we require our employees to undertake privacy and cybersecurity training, we have from time to time been subject to communications fraud, social engineering tactics, cyber-attacks by malicious actors, and denial of service and other disruptive events, and we may be subject to similar attacks in the future, particularly as the frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks increases. We cannot assure you that our backup systems, regular data backups, security controls, personnel training, and other procedures currently in place, or that may be in place in the future, will prevent significant damage, system failure, service outages, data incidents, data loss, unauthorized access, loss of use, interruption, or increased charges from our technology vendors.
The amount of data we store for our customers and users increases as our business grows. We host services, which includes hosting customer data, in co-located data centers and in multiple public cloud services. Our solutions allow users to store files, tasks, calendar events, messages and other data on our services indefinitely or as may be directed by our customers, at least until termination of the agreement. We also maintain sensitive data related to our technology and business, and that of our employees, strategic partners, GSPs, channel partners, and customers, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information (also called personal data) on our own systems and in multiple vendors' cloud services. As a result of maintaining larger volumes of data and user files and/or as a result of our continued movement up market, or movement into new customer markets and acquisition of larger and more recognized customers, we may become more of a target for hackers, nation states, and other malicious actors.
In addition, we use third-party vendors who, in some cases, have access to our data and our employees', partners', and customers' data. We employ layered security measures and have a means of working with third parties who report vulnerabilities to us. Despite the implementation of security measures by us or our vendors, our computing devices, infrastructure, or networks, or our vendors' computing devices, infrastructure, or networks have in the past, and may in the future, be vulnerable to hackers, computer viruses, worms, ransomware, other malware, employee theft or misuse, phishing, denial-of-service attacks, or similar disruptive problems that are caused by or through a security weakness or vulnerability in our or our vendors' infrastructure, network, or business practices or our or our vendors' customers, employees, business partners, consultants, or other Internet users who attempt to obtain unauthorized access to our or our vendors' corporate or personal systems, networks, or devices. Security weaknesses or vulnerabilities in our, our vendors', or our customers' infrastructure, networks, or business practices could lead to increased costs, liability claims, including contractual liability claims relating to security obligations in agreements with our partners and our customers, fines, claims, investigations and other proceedings, reduced revenue, or harm to our reputation or competitive position. In addition, even if vulnerabilities are not exploited or targeted, we could incur increased costs and capital expenditures in any efforts we undertake to strengthen our security controls or remediate security vulnerabilities.
We currently require a substantial number of our employees to work in one of our offices, nevertheless, we have implemented remote working protocols and offer work-issued devices to substantially all employees, whether working in an office or remotely. Actions of employees while working remotely may have significant effects on the security of our infrastructure, networks, and the information we process, such as by increasing the risk of compromise to systems or data arising from employees' combined personal and private use of devices, accessing our networks or information using wireless networks that we do not control, or the ability to transmit or store information outside of our network. Our employees' or third parties' intentional, unintentional, or inadvertent actions may increase our vulnerability to or expose us to security threats, such as ransomware or other malware and phishing attacks, and we may remain responsible for or otherwise face liability in connection with unauthorized access to, loss, unavailability alteration, destruction, acquisition, disclosure or other processing of information we or our vendors, business partners, or consultants process or otherwise maintain. Additionally, political and geopolitical uncertainty and actions, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East, may create heightened risks to us and our vendors, business partners, and consultants of cyber-attacks from nation-state actors or their affiliated entities, including attacks that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell and distribute our services. Also, cyber-attacks, including on the supply chain (including our software supply chain), continue to increase in frequency and magnitude, and we cannot provide assurances that our preventative efforts, or those of our suppliers, have been or will be successful.
We rely on encryption and authentication technology to provide secure transmission of and access to confidential information, including customer credit card numbers, debit card numbers, direct debit information, customer communications, and files uploaded by our customers. Advances in computer capabilities, new cryptographic discoveries, software or hardware bugs or vulnerabilities, social engineering activities, the introduction of ransomware or other malicious code, or other developments may result in a compromise or breach of the technology we use to protect our data and our customer data, or of the data itself. We also have incorporated AI-powered features into our solutions and may continue to incorporate additional AI features and technologies into our solutions in the future. Our use of AI features and technologies may create additional cybersecurity risks or increase cybersecurity risks, including risks of security breaches and incidents. Further, AI technologies may be used in connection with certain cybersecurity attacks, resulting in heightened risks of security breaches and incidents.
Additionally, third parties have in the past successfully induced, and may attempt in the future to induce using social engineering or other methods, employees, consultants, or customers into disclosing sensitive information, such as usernames, provisioning data, customer proprietary network information ("CPNI") or other information in order to gain access to our customers' user accounts or data, or to our systems or data. CPNI includes information such as the phone numbers called by a customer, the frequency, duration, and timing of such calls, and any services purchased by the consumer, such as call waiting, call forwarding, and caller ID, in addition to other information that may appear on a customer's bill. Third parties may also attempt to induce employees, consultants, or customers into disclosing information regarding our and our customers' intellectual property, personal data and other confidential information. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, to perform hacking, phishing and social engineering, or to sabotage systems change and evolve frequently and may not be recognized until launched against a target, may be new and previously unknown or little-known, or may not be detected or understood until well after such actions are conducted. We may be unable to anticipate these techniques and may be unsuccessful in implementing appropriate preventative measures, and any security breach or other incident may be difficult to detect and may take longer than expected to remediate or otherwise address. Any system failure or disruption or security breach or incident that causes interruptions or data loss in our operations or in the computer systems of our customers or leads to the misappropriation, loss, unavailability, or unauthorized use, disclosure, or other processing of our or our customers' confidential or personal information could result in significant liability to us, loss of our intellectual property, cause our subscriptions to be perceived as not being secure, cause considerable harm to us and our reputation (including requiring notification to customers, regulators, or the media), and deter current and potential customers from using our subscriptions. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
It is critical to our business that our sensitive information and that of our employees, strategic partners, GSPs, channel partners and customers remains secure and that our customers perceive that this information is secure. An information security incident could result in unauthorized access to, loss or unavailability of, or unauthorized disclosure or other processing of such information. Any actual or perceived cybersecurity breach or incident could expose us to litigation, indemnity obligations, government notification and investigations or other proceedings, contractual liability, and other possible liabilities, and could result in negative publicity, which could harm our reputation and reduce our customers' confidence in the effectiveness of our solutions, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. A security breach or incident could also expose us to increased costs, including remediation costs, disruption of operations, or increased cybersecurity protection costs, that may have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, an actual or perceived security breach or incident of or impacting our customers' systems can also result in exposure of credentials, unauthorized access to accounts, exposure of their information and data (including CPNI), and fraudulent calls on their accounts, which can have impacts to us similar to those described above. Any actual or perceived security breach or incident of or impacting our partners' or vendors' systems can result in similar impacts.
Additionally, due to the nature of our solutions, we are unable to maintain complete control over data security or the implementation of measures that reduce the risk of a data security incident. For example, our customers may accidentally disclose their passwords or store them on a mobile device that is lost or stolen, creating the perception that our systems are not secure against third-party access. Additionally, our third-party contractors in the Philippines, U.S., Georgia, and elsewhere may have access to customer data. While our agreements with our third-party contractors restrict their use or disclosure of any customer data, if these or other third-party vendors violate applicable laws or our policies, this may put our customers' information at risk and could have a material and adverse effect on our business.
Laws, regulations, and enforcement activities relating to security and privacy continue to evolve. For example, in 2023, the SEC adopted cybersecurity risk management and disclosure rules, which require the disclosure of information pertaining to cybersecurity incidents and cybersecurity risk management, strategy, and governance. Additionally, the Digital Operational Resiliency Act went into effect on January 17, 2025. It aims to establish a universal framework for managing and mitigating information and communication technology risk that will apply to financial-sector entities and their third-party cloud service providers.
We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant expenses in our efforts to prevent and address security incidents. Determining whether a security breach or incident is notifiable or reportable may not be straightforward and may be costly and could lead to negative publicity, loss of customer or partner confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures, diversion of management's attention, governmental investigations, and the expenditure of significant capital and other resources to respond to or alleviate problems caused by the actual or perceived security breach or incident. We may find it necessary for various reasons, such as a need to support changes to applicable laws or to support our expansion of sales into new geographic areas or into new industry markets, to change or enhance our cybersecurity measures, which may make it more expensive to operate in certain jurisdictions and may increase the risk of our non-compliance with evolving laws and regulations.
While we maintain cybersecurity insurance, our insurance may be insufficient to cover all liabilities incurred by privacy or security incidents. We also cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be sufficient for data handling or data security liabilities actually incurred, that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all, or that an insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our financial condition, operating results, and reputation.