More and more business owners are beginning to realize the importance of implementing cyber security measures at their company. However, simply having a cyber incident response plan isn’t enough. Incident response must take place in a quick enough time to minimize an incident’s impact.
What is an Incident Response Plan?
An incident response plan is a set of instructions that details exactly how an organization will go about addressing a cyberattack. Without a plan like this, response to cyberattacks is often reactive and chaotic, which results in squandered resources.
How Fast Should Cyber Incident Response Be?
As soon as a cyberattack occurs, whether it’s ransomware or phishing, the clock begins ticking. However, a 2018 study revealed that the average company takes 197 days to even realize a data breach has occurred. Even worse, it takes an average of 69 days to contain the breach after that. That’s nearly nine months for a hacker to steal data from the company network.
It goes without saying that this is a huge problem. Cyber incident response time should be immediate, as should the amount of time it takes to contain the threat.
3 Ways to Improve Incident Response Time
1. Revisit Your Incident Response Plan Annually
Cyber security moves quickly. There are constantly new, improved software updates that help combat evolving threats. Meet with your cyber security provider at least once a year to discuss ways to improve your cyber incident response time.
2. Use the Right Tools
If your cyber security provider isn’t using the right tools, your cyber incident response time is going to suffer. Ask them the specific tools they use to monitor your network, and how they’d respond to certain cyberattacks.
A good cyber security company will use tools, such as penetration testing, vulnerability scans and behavior monitoring, to proactively oversee your network. They should also use top-of-the-line antivirus and intrusion prevention software to address and eliminate threats.
3. Employee Education
Employee buy-in is extremely valuable to improving your cyber incident response time. Your employees should be able to recognize and avoid cyberattacks. They should also be able to report symptoms of cyberattacks to your IT provider.
Make sure your employees are familiar with common signs that their computer or your company network at large has been breached:
- Unusually slow connections
- Random pop-ups
- Unfamiliar programs running
- Locked accounts
By being able to recognize these warning signs, your employees could help you respond more quickly to a potential data breach.
Cyberattacks aren’t always preventable. Make sure your company is equipped to respond to them swiftly and deliberately.
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