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Networking and cloud computing have become essential parts of the workflow for most organizations. Unfortunately, as their adoption has increased, so have the risks associated with cyberattacks and data breaches. Many businesses have already learned this lesson the hard way, but the crisis is not inevitable. Identifying and implementing the right incident response steps can ensure that disruption remains an inconvenience, not a disaster. We see headlines about network penetrations nearly every day, highlighting the ever-evolving nature of data security. Malicious and criminal intrusions can happen to businesses of all sizes, and global crisis only exacerbates the risk. Experts say cybercrime has increased by as much as 30,000% during the current coronavirus pandemic.
There are two fundamental areas you should consider when planning information security incident response steps: proactive and reactive. You’re most likely already taking some steps toward protecting your organization from the possibility of a breach, but have you planned what to do to remain operable and minimize damages if your network or data storage is compromised? In this post, we’ll explore what you need to consider when developing incident response steps. Be PreparedThe right preparation can minimize damage and disruption to your business — and stress for you and your team. Experiencing a breach is always disruptive, but fumbling the response can be disastrous. And the best way to reduce the chance of having to employ your response strategy is to work proactively to protect against breaches. Implementing a strategy for cybersecurity incident response steps is important. Identify and test policies, processes, and infrastructure for threats and vulnerabilities to understand what areas need improvement. But being prepared for an incident can also include training staff about their roles and responsibilities in protecting your company and regularly reviewing your plan and the protections you have in place to make sure they’re up to date. Develop Steps for Incident ResponseIncident response plans are invaluable measures that every organization should have in place because — let’s face it — controls can fail. Incidents (however minor) are more likely than not to occur. But having the right incident response steps in place can minimize the damage. Below we’ll discuss five steps that will help protect your organization. Use them to develop your response plan, or compare them to your existing incident response strategy and ask yourself: Is my business ready? Step 1: Detection and IdentificationWhen an incident occurs, it’s essential to determine its nature. Begin documenting your response as you identify what aspects of your system have been compromised and what the potential damage is. This step is contingent on monitoring your network and systems so that any irregularities are flagged immediately. Once you’ve detected an incident, you’ll need to determine:
Step 2: ContainmentA quick response is critical to mitigating the impact of an incident. At this stage in your incident response steps, time is of the essence. Your preparations should have ensured that you have the right tools and skills to handle the task. Your actions here should include:
Step 3: RemediationThe next move in your cybersecurity incident response steps is to eliminate whatever caused the breach and start working on repairing the damage. At this point, you should also take disciplinary action against any internal staff found to have contributed to the incident.
Step 4: RecoveryOnce you’ve determined that the threat has been eliminated and the damage repaired, you can start to get things up and running again. Caution is key at this stage of your incident recovery steps. Continuous monitoring is critical to ensure that the incident has been fully resolved and that you’ve detected no further potential threats. Restore your systems from backup and resume operations. Now is also the time to repair any damage to your brand that has occurred as a result of the incident. A proactive, transparent response will help show clients that you take their experience seriously.
Step 5: AssessmentCompile a report of the incident using the documentation of each step that you took in your response. This will help ensure similar events do not happen again in the future. Some questions that can help in your assessment (and future preparations) include:
Need Help With Cybersecurity Incident Response Steps?When it comes to securing and protecting your business, preparing effective incident response steps can dramatically reduce your organization’s risk of disruption or loss. Don’t be surprised by an unexpected network security incident. If you need help creating or strengthening your cybersecurity incident response plan, contact one of AISN’s experts today. What is the recovery phase in incident response?Recovery. At the recovery stage, any production systems affected by a threat will be brought back online. This includes any data recovery or restoration efforts that need to take place as well.
What is the remediation phase?Remediation is the final stage of an incident response process. It can involve everything from an enterprise-wide password reset to pulling a network cable and rebuilding an infected box. The military term “clear and hold” is a good analogy for understanding remediation and its importance.
What are the phases of incident response?The NIST incident response lifecycle breaks incident response down into four main phases: Preparation; Detection and Analysis; Containment, Eradication, and Recovery; and Post-Event Activity.
What is the best phase to prevent the incident?Preparation
This phase will be the work horse of your incident response planning, and in the end, the most crucial phase to protect your business.
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