Incident response is a quick action plan to minimise damage, reduce system downtime, and reduce the likelihood of certain attacks in the future. No organisation is immune to cyber-attacks which is why making an effective incident response plan essential.
What is Incident Response?
A structured approach to handling cyber security breaches and attacks. The process involves identifying, managing, and mitigating security incidents to protect your organisation’s data and system.
Why incident Response Matters
Being a target of an attack can do a lot to damage an organisation. But not knowing about the attack and having confidential data leaked to the dark web is worse, legally, financially, and affects your reputation.
A good response plan ensures:
- Quick containment and resolution of threats.
- Compliance with regulations like GDPR and ISO 27001.
- Increased customer trust through transparency.
- Ongoing improvements based on past incidents.
Incident Response Steps
To create and maintain an effective incident response plan that will contain and recover from security incidents. Some recommendations on a good starting point include:
Preparation
Be at the ready. Your organisation should create clear policies, assign roles, and perform regular training exercises to keep your team sharp.
Identification
Detecting threats early is the most critical part of the process. Monitoring systems, analysing logs, and responding to alerts help identify suspicious activity before it escalates.
Containment
As soon as a threat is found, taking action to stop it in its tracks is the best remedy. This might mean isolating the affected system, revoking access, or shutting down services temporarily.
Eradication
Removing the root cause is essential. Your organisation should patch vulnerabilities, eliminate malware, and strengthen security controls
Recovery
Returning to normal operations will require restoring systems from clean backups and monitoring lingering threats. This will safely ensure that the affected systems cannot pose any further security risk to the rest of the system.
Review and Understand
Each incident is a great opportunity to learn how your organisation reacts and recovers from attacks. Carefully reviewing the incident will aid in improved security measures and prevent future threats.
What Makes an Effective Team?
Each department of a response team has a critical and important role to play. Building the right team who can respond to threats:
Incident Manager – This position is responsible for leading the team, responding to the threat and making critical decisions.
IT specialists – The technical team who IT specialists who investigate the breach and fit the technical issues that led to the intrusion.
Leal Advisors – This is the team that make sure everyone is on the right side of the law, following best practices and ensuring compliance is met.
Communication Team – Perhaps the one of the most critical parts of the team. Their job is to ensure that staff and stakeholders are kept well informed.