What is Cyber Security Incident Response?
Why create a Cyber Security Incident response plan?
Yes, we agree that some companies build an incident response plan because they are required to by a regulatory agency. However, this is only one example of why any organization needs to have an incident response plan in place, as there are many other reasons why it may be in the best interest of any company to undertake what can seem like a complex task at first. Regulators will only get more specific as time goes on. With additional technology emerging as more revolutionary ideas become more commonplace, we highly suggest developing these plans (if they do not already exist) to ensure that if disaster strikes your business or organization, you have a clear process in place for handling it appropriately.
Regulatory bodies require many organizations to build incident response plans. Although that may be their practical motivation, the real reason is to help them learn how they would respond in a crisis.
Organizations build a cybersecurity incident response plan because they know their effectiveness in mitigating the effects of a security incident is directly correlated to having procedures and resources in place that can be put into action immediately if and when the need arises.
What is the purpose of a cyber security incident response plan?
A cybersecurity incident response plan follows a step-by-step procedure that is effectively set up to reduce the negative impact on your organization when you experience a security breach.
One should never set sail on a boat without knowing their course of action in case it is sinking. Additionally, you should always have the equipment to prevent falling into an underwater danger.
When to Use Cyber Security Incident Response?
Which are the three Security Incident Response Functions
What is an effective security incident response procedure?
Organizations that do not currently have incident response (IR) plans in place will likely find it quite difficult to manage the way they handle critical onsite activities, such as testing new anti-virus software or conducting vulnerability assessments.
Like any good first aid or fire-fighting plan, a cybersecurity incident response plan has six distinct processes: Assessment Phase, Containment Phase, Eradication Phase, Recovery Phase, Reconstitution Phase, and Lessons Learned Phase.
This article outlines the detailed process of how to define incidents, formalizing incident response processes, and creating a dedicated incident response team.
Incident Response and Ransomware attacks – An example
Let’s examine cybersecurity incident response planning by looking at two organizations hit by a ransomware attack. These two organizations respond differently to the attack due to their different cultures.
An organization without a ransomware response plan
Like the fire department, an organization that doesn’t have a crisis management and incident response plan will detect the threats from events and incidents but won’t know how to respond appropriately.
You know what they say: if you fail to plan, it’s like planning to fail. Unfortunately, many organizations that experience a data breach don’t have a strong incident response plan in place for the aftermath of mitigating their breach, which could result in their losing customer trust and, more importantly, revenue.
- The cyber security team spends several hours dissecting the details behind a malicious attack to provide the C-suite with a thorough report that can be acted upon immediately.
- During endless hours of a malware attack, key systems are hit with a ransomware infection, which is likely to spread because there are no minimal containment strategies.
- By now, the ransomware attacks have become a piece of companywide news, and with all the tales surrounding it, employees have started to speculate.
- Due to the ransomware attacks impact, helpless employees cannot access key information and do their day-to-day office tasks.
- The cyber attack struck the company’s customer service system, and because this directly affected how customers interacted with your brand, this news got picked up in the news media.
- The whole organization shuts down due to a cyberattack, and the Press is aware of this now.
Which are the common Incident Response Terms?
As you are figuring out how to construct the goals or targets of your IR plan, you might encounter several tricky terms and phrases.
Event
A cybersecurity event is a sign of a problem in information systems, happening regardless of whether or not it involves malicious intent and whether or not the event requires an action to be taken.
