60% of small businesses shut down within six months of a cyberattack. A cybersecurity response plan can prevent you from becoming part of such sad statistics.
An equally large number are completely unprepared for them.
The choice is clear. You must prepare for cybersecurity incidents to prevent catastrophic financial and reputational damages.
Read on to find out how.
What to Do in Case of a Cyber Security Incident
If your organization’s cyber defenses suffered breaches, you can’t afford to waste time now.
It’s vital that you take control of the situation and act ASAP.
First, try to stay calm and not panic. You and your team will need clear heads to find solutions.
Adopt a solution-focused attitude. It will help you act in a smart and organized manner.
Some attackers ask for ransom. Don’t pay up.
You weren’t expecting that, right?
Criminals often share vulnerabilities on the dark web. Paying the ransom does not guarantee that you will not suffer attacks in the future.
You can instead hire a competent cybersecurity expert.
After this, it would be a good idea to switch to backup servers.
These can run your services while your team analyzes problems on the primary server.
You should also activate your response team. They will have to carry out your incident response plan.
How to Write An Cybersecurity Response Plan
CSIRP stands for Cyber Security and Incident Response Plan.
A proper CSIRP will let your organization meet evolving challenges. Learning, adaptability, and revision are the cornerstones of such a plan.
Before writing your incident response plan, you will need to…
- Form Your Scope – The scope of your CSIRP can be broad or specific. You may wish to keep the scope restricted to vital areas for simplicity.
- Get Approvals – Next, you must gain approval and funds from senior management.
- Get Documentation Tools – Set up systems for logging information and documentation.
- Create Priorities – Create priorities to the order of operations in the event of an incident. Doing so is like how doctors conduct “triage” in case of accidents to judge who needs the most help.
- Define Incidents – You should also define what makes up a cybersecurity event. Your IT team will need to know what incidents need escalation.
- Define Roles and Responsibilities – Set clear responsibilities for those involved.
6-Steps Cybersecurity Response Plan
The Six-Step Framework for your incident response plan include the following –
- Prepare For Incidents – Create a plan for what the response team should do to handle incidents.
- Identify Criteria For Activation – Found an unidentified hard drive? Has an abnormal series of events taken place? Your team should know the criteria for plan activation.
- Contain The Threat – Containment is both short and long term. In the short term, stop the threat from escalating and back up systems. Long term containment includes recovery and coming back to business.
- Eradicate Threats – Check systems involved and remove loopholes. Bring your cyber defenses up-to-date so that the incident doesn’t happen again.
- Move to Recovery Phase – Remove vulnerabilities and bring systems back online.
- Learn Lessons and Adapt – As stated earlier, your response plan will grow with time. It is time to document. After that, update the plan based on feedback and discovered vulnerabilities.
Summary
Cyber attacks are increasing in frequency and will do so for the foreseeable future.
You may have suffered breaches or may wish to prepare for the inevitable attacks.
In either case, we can help.
Our experts have several years of experience in dealing with evolving cyber threats.
Contact My IT Guy for emergency IT support services today.