Cyber attacks are increasingly common and alarmingly expensive. In 2023, the global average cost of a data breach was $4.45 million, a 15% increase from three years earlier, according to IBM. Costs following a breach can include company downtime, lost revenues, restoration costs, remediation expenses, ransom payments, legal fees and public relations campaigns to restore reputation. But the fallout from a breach can be significantly mitigated with advance preparation and a prompt, effective response. Below are five important things to do to limit the damage from a cyber breach.
Prepare in Advance for Different Scenarios
The aftermath of an attack is not the time to plan your response. Rather, organizations should create a written cyber breach response plan that will provide a roadmap for how they will respond in the event of an attack. The plan should identify appropriate responses to various scenarios, such as a ransomware attack or a leak of sensitive data. For each scenario, your response plan should map out what steps will be taken, and by whom, immediately after a breach is discovered. Employees from various departments, from IT to human resources, should be trained on the plan and their role in carrying it out, so they will be ready to act.
Contain the Breach
When a breach first comes to light, the first step is to identify the source and scope of the problem, so the breach can be contained and further damage can be prevented. Your system may need to be shut down to allow your IT team to conduct investigations, contain the breach and prevent other areas of the system from being impacted.
Restore Operations
After the problem is fixed, the focus should shift to restoring your system to full operations to minimize downtime and lost revenue. Your response plan should prioritize restoring the most important areas of your business first to maximize productivity and revenue. Defenses should be added to fortify affected systems against future threats, and user credentials will typically need to be updated.
Notify Your Insurance Company
If you have a cyber insurance policy, you need to notify your insurer immediately when a breach occurs. Cyber insurance policies can help you get back on your feet by covering various costs, from restoration expenses to ransom payments, but it’s important to follow the correct notification procedures and meet all the deadlines articulated by your insurance contract.
Contact Impacted Third Parties
Your plan should include a plan for notifying impacted third parties, such as your customers and vendors, about the data breach and the specific data that was compromised. This may include working with a public relations or crisis communications firm to help you craft your messaging. You may also offer to cover the cost of credit monitoring services for impacted third parties for a given period, such as one year. Timely communication from your company in the wake of a breach is essential to rebuilding the trust in your organization that may have been lost because of the breach.
Central Business Systems is a one-stop shop for all business technology needs, which has been serving businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area for more than 75 years. To learn more about how our state-of-the-art IT solutions can make your company’s operations more efficient and secure, contact us.