employees, participants and others. We also Process and contract with third-party service providers to Process sensitive information, including PHI/PII, confidential information and other proprietary business information. We manage and maintain PHI/PII and other sensitive data and information using our on premise systems, and we plan to implement cloud-based computing center systems in the future. Third-party service providers that serve our participants may Process PHI/PII data either in their own on-site systems, at managed or co-located data centers, or in the cloud.
We are highly dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the internet, to securely Process PHI/PII and other sensitive data and information. Security breaches of this infrastructure, whether ours or of our third-party service providers, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, ransomware, attacks by hackers and similar breaches, and employee or contractor error, negligence or malfeasance, have occurred in the past, and have in the past and could in the future, create system disruptions, shutdowns or unauthorized access, acquisition, use, disclosure or modifications of such data or information, and could cause PHI/PII to be accessed, acquired, used, disclosed or modified without authorization, to be made publicly available, or to be further accessed, acquired, used or disclosed.
We use third-party service providers for important aspects of the Processing of employee and participant PHI/PII and other confidential and sensitive data and information, and therefore rely on third parties to manage functions that have material cybersecurity risks. Because of the sensitivity of the PHI/PII and other sensitive data and information that we and our service providers Process, the security of our technology platform and other aspects of our services, including those provided or facilitated by our third-party service providers, are important to our operations and business strategy. We have implemented certain administrative, physical and technological safeguards to address these risks; however, such policies and procedures may not address certain HIPAA requirements or address situations that could lead to increased privacy or security risks, and agreements with contractors and other third-party service providers who handle this PHI/PII and other sensitive data and information for us. However, some PACE organizations that we have acquired in the past or may acquire in the future may not have implemented such agreements with their third-party service providers, which may expose us to legal claims or proceedings, liability, and penalties. We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against security breaches, to safeguard the privacy, security, and confidentiality of PHI/PII and other sensitive data and information, to investigate, contain, remediate, and mitigate actual or potential security breaches, and/or to report security breaches to participants, employees, regulators, media, credit bureaus, and other third parties in accordance with applicable law and to offer complimentary credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and similar services to participants and/or employees where required by law or otherwise appropriate. Cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated, and frequent, and we or our third-party service providers may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate protective measures against them or to prevent future attacks. The remote work environment as a result of COVID-19 has increased these risks. We exercise limited control over our third-party service providers and, in the case of some third-party service providers, may not have evaluated the adequacy of their security measures, which increases our vulnerability to problems with services they provide.
A security breach, security incident, or privacy violation that leads to unauthorized use, disclosure, access, acquisition, loss or modification of, or that prevents access to or otherwise impacts the confidentiality, security, or integrity of, participant or employee information, including PHI/PII that we or our third-party service providers Process, could harm our reputation and business, compel us to comply with breach notification laws, cause us to incur significant costs for investigation, containment, remediation, mitigation, fines, penalties, settlements, notification to individuals, regulators, media, credit bureaus, and other third parties, complimentary credit monitoring, identity theft protection, training and similar services to participants and/or employees where required by law or otherwise appropriate, for measures intended to repair or replace systems or technology and to prevent future occurrences. We may also be subject to potential increases in insurance premiums, resulting in increased costs or loss of revenue.
If we or our third-party service providers are unable to prevent or mitigate security breaches, security incidents or privacy violations in the future, or if we or our third-party service providers are unable to implement satisfactory remedial measures with respect to known or future security incidents, or if it is perceived that we have been unable to do so, our operations could be disrupted, we may be unable to provide access to our systems, and we could suffer a loss of participants, loss of reputation, adverse impacts on participant and investor confidence, financial loss, governmental investigations or other actions, regulatory or contractual penalties, and other claims and liability. In addition, security breaches and incidents and other compromise or inappropriate access to, or acquisition or processing of, PHI/PII or other sensitive data or information can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying such breaches or incidents or in providing timely notification of such incidents may lead to increased harm and increased penalties.