An incident response provider can help you create and manage a robust incident response plan that will safeguard your business from the threat of cyberattacks. Continue reading to learn more about the cybersecurity risks your business faces, the importance of an incident response plan, and how to select an incident response service provider.
The state of cybercrime
Cybercrime is booming. According to the FBI’s 2019 Internet Crime Report, their Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) “received 467,361 complaints in 2019—an average of nearly 1,300 every day—and recorded more than $3.5 billion in losses to individual and business victims.” These were the highest numbers for both complaints and losses since the IC3 was established in 2000.
With the increasing threat of data breaches, phishing, scams, and ransomware, it’s more important than ever to protect your business online with an incident response plan.
🔎 Watch our FBI Internet Crime Report Summary.
Why incident response is important
Data breaches happen fast, so it’s crucial you’re able to respond calmly and decisively as soon as you suspect your business is being attacked.
Data breaches can have significant consequences, such as:
- Loss of data and contact information vital to the operation of your business
- Loss of intellectual property
- Loss and compromisation of sensitive employee and customer information
- Loss of revenue due to system downtime
- Loss of trust—your customers, partners, vendors, and employees won’t trust you to keep their information safe
- Regulatory and/or legal liabilities
Scams and data breaches aren’t reserved for multinational corporations—they affect everyone. Small businesses should be just as cautious and prepared for a breach. You must take a proactive approach to your business’s cybersecurity to ensure you’re ready for whatever comes your way.
What is an incident response plan?
Creating an incident response plan is vital to ensuring your business is able to minimize the impact of a cyberattack should the worst happen. Incident response for cybersecurity means putting a clear plan in place to prepare your team as well as yourself for the high-pressure situation of such an event, and it prevents them in the first place.
An incident response plan should contain written instructions on how to deal with security events, confirmed data breaches, and network incidents. And it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not all up to you. An incident response plan should be managed by a team of people, including security and general IT staff, C-suite level members, and members of your HR, PR, and legal departments.
🔎 Learn more about how to create an Incident Response Plan
Key questions to ask when selecting an incident response service provider
When choosing an incident response provider for your business, get to know how they work, the value they provide, and what your ROI will be if you work with them. Ask the tough questions early on to make sure they can meet the cybersecurity needs of your business, and to ensure you’ll work well together. They will become an extension of your own team, so it is critical you trust them completely with your business’s security.
- How long has your organization been performing cyberattack response?
- How many engagements does your organization perform each year?
- Can you provide information on your end-to-end (preparation, emergency incident response, and post-incident) incident response process?
- Can you provide a specific example of a cyberattack you managed? How did you improve the client’s response time and overall results?
- How do you document your processes?
- What are your overall intelligence capabilities?
- How is intelligence applied by your incident response practice, and how would this benefit my organization?
- How much experience does your organization have helping companies in my industry?
- What support can you give for civil or criminal litigation?
- What differentiates you from other incident response providers?
- Do you offer other managed services?
- How will you scale with us as our business grows?
- If we reach out, how quickly will we hear back from someone on your team?
- What pricing models do you offer?
- How long will it take to get started?
- What does your implementation process look like?
- Can you provide reference accounts?
- Do you have a customer community I can engage with?
