In This Blog Post
What Could a Data Security Breach Cost Your Organization?
What’s the price of a cyberattack?
Data security in interpretation and translation is easy to overlook, until a breach exposes patient records, financial details, or legal files. According to IBM’s 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.99 million, a 12% increase over the previous year. The report also found that AI-enabled attacks are becoming more common, with one in four malicious breaches involving AI. These incidents cost organizations approximately $6 million on average.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but for organizations handling sensitive information, protecting data is a year-round responsibility. That includes every interpreted call, video session, and translated document, because data security in language access matters as much as in any other system that touches confidential information.
Healthcare records, legal testimony, financial information, government documents, and private conversations may all pass through interpreters, translators, and technology platforms. Each interaction creates a responsibility to protect the information involved. A compromised account, misdirected file, or unsecured system could expose sensitive data and put an organization’s operations and reputation at risk.
The consequences extend beyond the immediate financial cost. A breach can disrupt services, damage customer relationships, trigger regulatory obligations, and undermine trust that may take years to rebuild.
At Language Services Associates (LSA), data protection is a fundamental part of how we deliver interpretation, translation, and language access services. Through our security practices, access controls, staff training, and technology infrastructure, we work to protect the information entrusted to us.
Here’s a closer look at the cybersecurity risks organizations should understand, and the safeguards that matter when language access is part of the equation.
How Data Security Breaches Happen in Interpretation and Translation
Language access may not be the first area that comes to mind when organizations evaluate cybersecurity risks. Yet interpretation and translation often involve highly confidential information, particularly in healthcare, legal, financial, and government settings.
The risks aren’t limited to sophisticated cyberattacks. Everyday activities — sharing a document, granting system access, or joining a virtual session — can create vulnerabilities when appropriate safeguards aren’t in place.
What Types of Data Are at Risk?
Unlike many technology vendors, language service providers are often involved in highly sensitive conversations and documents. An interpreter may participate in a medical consultation, legal proceeding, or government interview, while a translator may handle protected health information, legal filings, financial records, or confidential business communications. This makes strong security practices essential throughout the language access process.
Depending on the setting and assignment, language services may involve several categories of sensitive information:
Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and other details that can identify an individual.
Protected Health Information (PHI): Medical records, diagnoses, treatment information, and insurance details.
Financial Data: Account numbers, payment details, and transaction records.
Legal Information: Court testimony, case files, attorney-client communications, and other confidential legal materials.
Business information and intellectual property: Contracts, internal reports, proprietary research, and confidential business communications.
Government and Agency Information: Sensitive records that require careful handling to protect individuals, institutions, and public trust.
Depending on the information involved and the organization, applicable requirements may include HIPAA, the HITECH Act, CMS requirements, state privacy and breach-notification laws, and international regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Protecting this information requires more than securing a single database or platform. Organizations must consider how data moves between people, systems, and service providers throughout its lifecycle.
Common Ways Data Breaches Occur
Without appropriate safeguards, sensitive information can be exposed in several ways.
Misdelivered files and messages.
A translation file containing confidential information sent to the wrong recipient can expose data without any sophisticated attack. Clear procedures for verifying recipients, sharing files securely, and handling documents are essential.
Excessive or outdated access permissions
Outdated or vulnerable software, delayed security patches, inadequate access controls, and unsupported technology can leave systems exposed. The PHP2Shell vulnerabilities disclosed in October 2026 demonstrate why organizations need visibility into the technologies supporting their websites and applications, including software managed by third-party vendors (Critical Vulnerabilities in PHP Require Immediate Patching | CISA). Organizations should understand who is responsible for monitoring vulnerabilities, applying critical patches, reviewing security alerts, and responding when an underlying technology becomes vulnerable.
Insecure platforms and systems
Outdated software, inadequate access controls, and missing security protections can leave systems vulnerable. Organizations should evaluate the security of the platforms they use and consider how third-party services handle sensitive information.
Phishing and social engineering
Cybercriminals may impersonate colleagues, customers, or trusted organizations to trick people into sharing credentials, opening malicious attachments, or disclosing confidential information. Training and clear reporting procedures help people recognize and respond to suspicious activity.
AI-enabled cyberattacks
Artificial intelligence is changing the cybersecurity landscape by helping attackers create convincing impersonations and develop or deploy malicious tools more efficiently. IBM's 2026 report found that AI-driven attacks increased 56% year over year. One in four malicious breaches involved AI, and those incidents cost approximately $6 million on average, that’s about $1 million more than the global average breach cost. Deepfake impersonations and AI-enabled malware were among the leading contributors.
Secure AI agents as identities
As organizations deploy agentic AI, AI systems should not automatically receive broad access to organizational systems or sensitive information. Access should be limited to what the agent needs to perform its intended function, with appropriate controls, monitoring and accountability.
For organizations that rely on interpretation, translation, and multilingual communication, these developments create new risks that extend beyond traditional cybersecurity concerns. AI-generated audio, for example, can make impersonation attempts more convincing. An employee might receive a seemingly authentic voice message from a supervisor requesting confidential information or urgent access to a system.
AI tools also create risks when organizations introduce them without appropriate security controls. Depending on how a tool is configured and used, sensitive information submitted to an AI system could be exposed or handled in ways that conflict with organizational policies.
As AI continues to reshape the threat landscape, organizations should consider what it means for protecting sensitive information and the systems and processes that support their operations.
Maintain a vulnerability and patch-management process
Keep an inventory of internet-facing systems and underlying technologies, monitor vendor and government security advisories, prioritize critical patches, replace unsupported software, and establish procedures for responding when immediate remediation isn't possible.
In short: language services connect people, but without the right protections, they can also add risks.
How Organizations Can Reduce AI-Related Risk
Although AI creates new security challenges, it can also help organizations detect and respond to threats.
IBM found that organizations extensively using AI and automation in security operations reduced breach costs by an average of $1.93 million compared with organizations that didn’t use those technologies extensively.
Technology alone, however, isn’t enough. Organizations should combine appropriate tools with established security practices, including:
Limit access
Give employees, contractors, and AI agents only the permissions necessary for their specific responsibilities.
Establish AI governance
Define which AI tools are approved for use and what information may be shared with them.
Strengthen identity verification
Use appropriate authentication procedures and additional verification for sensitive or unusual requests.
Monitor systems and activity
Look for suspicious behavior, investigate potential incidents, and maintain clear escalation procedures.
Train employees regularly
Teach staff to recognize phishing, deepfake impersonation, suspicious requests, and unsafe data-handling practices.
Review third-party services
Understand how vendors protect, access, process, and retain the information entrusted to them.
When language services involve sensitive information, consider asking:
- How is customer data encrypted during transmission and storage?
- Who can access PHI, PII, and confidential customer information?
- How are interpreter and translator access permissions managed?
- How quickly are critical software vulnerabilities evaluated and patched?
- How are third-party technology providers evaluated?
- What security controls apply to AI-powered language solutions?
- How is sensitive data handled when AI systems are involved?
- What monitoring and incident-response processes are in place?
- How does the organization maintain business continuity following a security incident?
How LSA Protects Your Data
When sensitive information is involved, general security policies aren’t enough. Organizations need safeguards that address the people, processes, systems, and workflows involved in delivering services.
Security Expertise & Monitoring
Cybersecurity requires ongoing attention. LSA’s IT and security team oversees security practices, monitors systems, manages compliance activities, and maintains incident response procedures to help identify and address potential threats. Through continuous monitoring and established response processes, we work to reduce risk and support the security of our language services environment.
Encryption and Secure Systems
Confidential information is protected with advanced encryption both in transit and at rest. Our secure platforms are built for reliability, with 99.9% uptime that ensures interpretation and translation sessions remain both safe and accessible — whether delivered by phone, video, onsite, in writing, or through AI-powered services.
Access Control
To reduce risk, interpreters and translators only see the information required for their assignment. Access is automatically revoked once the session ends, so sensitive data isn’t exposed any longer than necessary.
Dedicated Security Team
Our dedicated IT and security team monitors systems around the clock, manages compliance audits, and maintains incident response protocols to address threats quickly and effectively.
Infrastructure Built for Protection
The foundation of our language access services is a proprietary, U.S.-based interpreter platform. Hosted on geo-redundant systems with failover datacenters, it’s designed for continuity and disaster recovery as well as security.
Training and Testing
Every interpreter, translator, and staff member receives security training at the start of their work with LSA and annually thereafter. Training covers PHI, PII, phishing prevention, and secure handling of sensitive data — reinforcing compliance at every level.
Proactive Safeguards
We don’t wait for attackers to strike. Regular audits, social engineering tests, and policy reviews help us uncover and address vulnerabilities before they become problems. Employees requiring additional support are placed on individualized remediation plans.
Trusted Across Industries
For more than 35 years, organizations across healthcare, government, legal, and business sectors have relied on LSA for interpretation, translation, and related language services.
Our experience supporting complex communication needs is backed by a network of thousands of vetted linguists and services spanning over 300 languages.
Whether an interaction takes place over the phone, by video, onsite, in writing, or through an AI-enabled service, protecting sensitive information remains an important consideration in how language access is delivered.
Your Data, Protected Every Day
Cybersecurity is never “finished.” Threats evolve, regulations change, and expectations rise. That’s why LSA invests continuously in people, processes, and technology to stay ahead. Strong data security in interpretation and translation protects your patients, customers, and reputation.
For more than 30 years, organizations across healthcare, government, legal, and business sectors have trusted us not just for our language expertise, but for the security behind it. With LSA, you gain a partner committed to protecting sensitive data every step of the way.
Ready to strengthen your language access with cybersecurity you can count on? Contact us today.
