McKesson 2015 Annual Report Download - page 28

McKESSON CORPORATION
Our future results could be materially affected by a number of public health issues whether occurring in the
United States or abroad.
Public health issues, whether occurring in the United States or abroad, could disrupt our operations, disrupt
the operations of suppliers or customers, or have a broader adverse impact on consumer spending and confidence
levels that would negatively affect our suppliers and customers. We have developed contingency plans to address
infectious disease scenarios and the potential impact on our operations, and we will continue to update these
plans as necessary. However, there can be no assurance that these plans will be effective in eliminating the
negative impact of any such diseases on the Company’s operating results. We may be required to suspend
operations in some or all of our locations, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial position
and results of operations.
We are dependent upon sophisticated information systems. The malfunction, failure or breach of these
systems to perform as designed could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.
Our business relies on the secure electronic transmission, storage, and hosting of sensitive information,
including protected health information, financial information and other sensitive information relating to our
customers, company and workforce. We also rely on sophisticated information systems in our business to obtain,
rapidly process, analyze and manage data to: (1) facilitate the purchase and distribution of thousands of inventory
items from numerous distribution centers; (2) receive, process and ship orders and handle other product and
services on a timely basis; (3) manage the accurate billing and collections for thousands of customers; and
(4) process payments to suppliers. In Europe, Celesio outsources a significant part of its IT infrastructure to an
external service provider. If these systems are interrupted, damaged or breached by an unforeseen event or
actions of a third party, including a cyber attack, or fail for any extended period of time, it could have a material
adverse impact on our results of operations.
If we sustain cyber attacks or other privacy or data security incidents that result in security breaches, we could
suffer a loss of revenue and increased costs, exposure to significant liability, reputational harm and other
serious negative consequences.
We routinely process, store and transmit large amounts of data in our operations, including sensitive
personal information as well as proprietary or confidential information relating to our business or third parties.
Some of the data we process, store and transmit may be outside of the U.S. due to our information technology
systems and international business operations. We may be subject to breaches of the information technology
systems we use. Experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our layered security
controls and misappropriate or compromise sensitive personal information or proprietary or confidential
information, create system disruptions or cause shutdowns. They also may be able to develop and deploy viruses,
worms, and other malicious software programs that attack our systems or otherwise exploit any security
vulnerabilities. Our systems and the data we store on those systems may also be vulnerable to security incidents
or security attacks; acts of vandalism or theft; coordinated attacks by activist entities; misplaced or lost data;
human errors; or other similar events that could negatively affect our systems and our and our customer’s data.
The costs to eliminate or address the foregoing security threats and vulnerabilities before or after a cyber
incident could be significant. Our remediation efforts may not be successful and could result in interruptions,
delays, or cessation of service, and loss of existing or potential customers. In addition, breaches of our security
measures and the unauthorized dissemination of sensitive personal information or proprietary information or
confidential information about us or our customers or other third parties, could expose our customers’ private
information and our customers to the risk of financial or medical identity theft, or expose us or other third parties
to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for us, damage our brand
and reputation, or otherwise harm our business.
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