A focused, proactive, and comprehensive incident response plan is one of the most vital information and data security elements. When the stability of an organization’s network is compromised, responding efficiently and appropriately is the only thing that can minimize business disruptions.
An organization can have a solid incident response plan, a highly talented team of expert responders, and reputable third-party service providers. However, you’ll still not be as prepared for a cyber attack as you can be.
There is no way to prevent all attacks at all times completely, so an organization needs to have a plan in case things do go wrong.
Quite a few mistakes hinder an organization’s incident response efforts to a serious security breach. Some are highlighted below:
1. Forgetting About Small Scale Breaches
Several incidents from recent years have shown that cybercriminals don’t only target huge companies with valuable resources. Even then, organizations focus on large-scale incidents and build their protection systems around them, leading to smaller events going unnoticed.
Cyber attacks, especially of the smaller and stealthier variety, are difficult to detect most of the time. Even when you do, it’s impossible to tell how much has gotten compromised. The main issue here is that the attacks go on for many weeks, even months and years, and cause more damage.
2. Having Backups But Not Testing Them
Storing personal data and creating backup plans in case of an incident response breach is ideal for saving yourself from a ransomware attack, and most people already know this. But going a step further and testing those backups will protect your business from getting disrupted.
Organizations need to execute their plans regularly before experiencing a real-life incident. This practice works similar to the concept of a fire drill; the team members can understand their roles and test the efficacy of their response plan.
3. Depending Entirely on the IT Team
The earliest signs of a cyber attack show up as a meager error or hitch in the system and are sent over to the IT department to handle along with the rest of their tasks. Doing this already limits the time needed to detect and put a stop to or at least hinder the cyberattack until you can secure your files and data.
Instead of regulating the issue, it further overwhelms the IT team. Incident management needs teamwork to be successful; it’s not just the IT and operation team’s responsibility; everyone in the organization needs to be aware and detect abnormalities in the network.
4. Not Implementing Efficient Communication Channels
Since many security organizations divide their responsibilities like vulnerability scanning, system management, and patching among various workers, it’s often a challenging task to efficiently communicate with each other and third parties. This especially creates issues when the security team needs the key parties to respond quickly to an incident.
The ideal solution to effective communication would be a secure centralized channel, like a dashboard, where the incident response team and all parties involved post details and extract the necessary information at any time.
By using the information security provided by Tentacle, you will be able to streamline communications efficiently without any hassle. Learn all about it to know how it will boost your business.
5. Having Outdated and Inadequate Response Tools
Most organizations that employ IT security services for incident response incidents believe that creating a response plan is a one-time process as opposed to a continuously monitored system. As a result, teams have to rely on outdated tools or inaccurate information regarding the affected system. If there’s no proper planning or maintenance, even the latest technology won’t help.
Agencies need to maintain an available inventory of tools, all coordinated to their specific functions, so no time gets wasted during a system breach. In addition to having the right tools, training team members to use them effectively is also crucial.
