The process of preparing for, detecting, containing, and recovering from a data breach or cyberattack is known as Incident Response (IR). It includes methods for dealing with the fallout from an incident. The goal of IR is to minimize collateral damage (brand reputation and employee productivity) for clients while optimizing recovery times.

Cyberattacks continue to dominate news headlines, fueled by an increase in ransomware events that increased by 148 percent in 2021. These attackers now demand multimillion-dollar ransom payments while crippling a business’s operations, bringing them to a halt until a payment is made.

As cyberattacks become more common, so do insurance claims, indicating that underwriters have identified a link between certain controls and corresponding cyber incidents. The insurance industry has a deep understanding of the technical steps that organizations can take to build their cyber resilience as a result of this analysis and continuous examination of relevant data points.

There are 6 steps we must follow for an IR to be successful:

  1. Preparation – Policies, response plans, communication, team members, access control, tools, and training are all determined by it.
  2. Identification – This step entails the processes by which incidents are detected and identified as soon as possible in order to begin remediation efforts. The IR team may use a variety of sources, including log files, error messages, intrusion detection systems, firewalls, and other tools, to determine whether an event qualifies as an incident that requires a response. Events that are considered incidents must be reported as soon as possible.
  3. Containment – This phase’s goal is to limit the damage and prevent further damage from occurring.
  4. Eradication – Eradication entails physically removing and restoring affected systems. Malicious or illicit content is removed from affected systems using proper procedures.
  5. Recovery – Client systems that are being returned to production should be tested, monitored, and validated to ensure they are not reinfected with malware or compromised in any other way.
  6. Learning experiences – The final phase assists in educating and improving future incident response efforts. MSPs should take advantage of the opportunity to update incident response documentation with information that was missing, omitted, or incomplete prior to the incident, as well as complete documentation of remediation efforts to provide insight to clients.

The best part of these steps is having someone you can always rely on. CYB3R-X has been in the business of extensive IR for MSP and you can entrust your company’s future to our IT professionalism. Learn more about protecting your business.