In cybersecurity, preparedness is key. After all, you shouldn't wait until a security incident happens to think about minimizing risk, assigning incident response roles, or identifying mission-critical data.
The average time to detect an incident is about 7 days, while the response adds nearly a whole month. When every passing hour gives the threat actor more time to damage your network by blocking access to systems or stealing sensitive data, you need to work quickly.
In many cases, the hardest parts of handling an incident are trying to figure out what to do and who to involve. This is why one of the key elements of incident response preparedness is having an actionable incident response (IR) plan that outlines both the "what" and the "who".
Incident response plans: A quick overview
An IR plan is a set of formal documentation that guides an organization's response to a cybersecurity incident. Preparing an incident response plan is an important and straightforward way to improve your incident response abilities and ensure that if an incident ever occurs, you know how to minimize its impact and cost. Teams know who to call, what to do, and how to resolve the incident.
Typically, these plans should cover both the technical and business responses to decrease the impact of an incident. The plan will help you answer the following questions:
- What happened?
- Is the problem ongoing?
- How do I make it stop?
- How do I know it stopped?
It's important to note that an IR plan prepares the company for all incidents, not just malicious cyberattacks. While you need to be able to efficiently respond to a major ransomware attack, it's equally important that you're armed to address other incidents, such as accidental data breaches.
With a good plan in place, every person involved in the IR process can move forward confidently.
What is incident response preparedness?
Incident response preparedness involves crafting an IR plan, but that's not all. IR preparedness also involves knowing the steps you can take before an incident happens to:
- Reduce the chances of an attack happening in the first place
- Minimize the potential for impact of an in-progress attack
- Effectively recover and return to business faster
Incident response preparedness is important, but not easy. It takes time and money, plus security expertise that not all businesses have access to. This is why many organizations are choosing to use an IR preparedness service.
How IR preparedness services work
During an IR Preparedness Service, third-party experts work with your team to audit existing security processes, discuss best practices, and better prepare you for future incidents.
At Field Effect, our IR Preparedness Service is broken down into three phases.
1. Research and discovery
During this initial phase, you’ll answer a detailed survey which will give our team a better understanding of any gaps in your cybersecurity and incident response strategies.
Our team of experts will work with you to review and examine your current incident response plans, if you have them, and provide actionable feedback.
2. Discussion and review
After the discovery phase, you’ll be invited to an in-depth discussion about both the documentation you provided and any findings. You’ll have the chance to ask questions and learn more about incident response preparedness.
3. Expert recommendations
In the final phase of the incident response preparedness exercise, you’ll receive a written report with a summary of your cybersecurity posture and recommendations for you to implement.
These recommendations will:
- Note gaps in internal documentation and procedures and identify important resources to have, such as cyber insurance.
- Include strategies for safeguarding data, best practices, and compliance with modern practices and standards.
- Provide prioritized technical recommendations.
- Help guide your incident response preparation and improve the resiliency of your network and business operations.
Why use an IR preparedness service?
There are many reasons why a business would want to use an IR preparedness service. In addition to the simplicity that comes with having a team of cybersecurity experts walk you through the process, there are several other benefits.
Minimize the impact of future incidents
With a solid incident response plan in place, your organization can detect, contain, and remediate threats much faster, reducing the overall damage and downtime caused by an attack.
A well-prepared response limits the spread of the incident, protects critical assets, and helps maintain business continuity.
Reduce costs
On a similar note, IR preparedness services can help you save costs. After all, the faster an organization responds to and recovers from an incident, the lower the associated costs.
These costs can include direct expenses such as regulatory fines, legal fees, and customer compensation, as well as indirect costs like reputational damage and loss of business. Preparedness helps avoid prolonged exposure and reduces the need for costly emergency response measures.
Improve compliance
Many regulations and standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, require organizations to have an incident response plan. Using a preparedness service ensures your organization is compliant with these requirements, potentially avoiding fines and penalties.
Gain expert advice
An incident response preparedness service provides access to specialized tools, threat intelligence, and expert guidance. These resources improve your organization's ability to detect and respond to threats quickly and effectively.
Protect your reputation
How an organization responds to a cybersecurity incident can significantly impact its reputation.
A swift and well-coordinated response can demonstrate to customers, partners, and the public that the organization takes security seriously and is capable of managing threats effectively.
Learn more about IR preparedness
With our IR Preparedness Service, you get access to trained cybersecurity specialists who will assess your current incident response plans, identify areas for improvement, and much more.
We'll help you strengthen your cybersecurity processes to avoid an incident and craft a customized incident response plan just in case an incident does occur. Learn more about our Incident Response Preparedness Service today.
