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Cyber Incident Response 101 for Small Businesses

Posted by biztek-solutions On September 13th, 2022

Imagine it’s the end of a long workday and you’re ready to head home for the evening. However, just as you’re about to leave, you find your email credentials have been hacked and critical data stolen from your business. As a small business, you may have to deal with similar scenarios caused by phishing attacks, ransomware, malware or any other security threat.

The question is, do you have a plan in place to respond quickly and effectively to minimize the impact on your business?

Remember, the longer it takes to address a cyber incident, the more harm cybercriminals can do to your business, such as sever data loss and damage to your bottom line and reputation.

That’s why, in addition to having strong cybersecurity measure in place, you need to have an incident response plan to fall back on

An incident response plan is a set of steps that can be implemented following a breach to minimize its impact and get the company back up and running as soon as possible.

Cyber Incident Response 101

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), incident response has five phases:

Identify
There are numerous security risks to be aware of in order to develop an effective incident response plan. This includes threats to your technology systems, data and operations, among other things. Understanding these risks allow you to be better prepared to incidents and reduce their impact.

To identify risks, you can start by looking at system logs, examining vulnerable files or tracking suspicious employee activity.

Protect
It’s critical to create and implement appropriate safeguards to protect your business. Safeguards include security measures to guard against threats and steps to ensure the continuity of essential services in the event of an incident.

To protect your business against cyberthreats, you can use backups, implement security controls such as firewalls, and train employees on security best practices.

Detect
Quickly detecting irregularities, such as unusual network activity or someone attempting to access sensitive data, is essential to limit the damage and get your systems back up and running faster.

Deploying techniques such as an intrusion detection system (IDS) is an effective way to tackle irregularities.

Respond
You need to have a plan in place to respond to detected cyber incidents. This plan should include strategies for breach containment, investigation and resolution.

A couple things you can do to respond to an incident are isolating affected systems and cutting off access every impacted system.

These steps can be part of your recovery plan:

  • Restoring systems that have been affected by the attack
  • Implementing security controls to prevent the incident from happening again
  • Investigating the root cause of the event
  • Taking legal action against perpetrators

Keep in mind that a well-crafted incident response plan will help to resolve a breach, minimize the damage caused and restore normal operation quickly and effectively. It’s critical to ensure that all staff are aware of the incident response plan and know their roles and responsibilities in the event of a breach.

An incident response plan should be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that it remains relevant and effective. Cyber incidents can occur at any time, so it’s crucial to be prepared.

Collaborated With an IT Service Provider to Ramp Up Your Defenses

A specialist IT service provider like us may be exactly what your business needs to develop an incident response plan. By employing our expertise and experience, we can help you:

  • Protect your business against cyber incidents
  • Create a comprehensive incident response plan
  • Abide by NIST’s five phases of incident response

These are just a few of the ways we can help you with you incident response journey. If you’re looking for help protecting your business against cyber incidents, be sure to schedule a Discovery Call today.

 

Have more questions than answers?

Take advantage of our FREE, no-obligation, customized IT Optimization Plan and 27-Point IT Systems Security and Performance Assessment. There’s no charge for this, and it only requires a 30–60-minute meeting with one of our top IT consultants. Click here to get started!

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About Biztek Solutions, Inc.

We are a top-ranked IT support and consulting company that provides services nationwide, with an emphasis on the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange County, and surrounding areas.

Since 2006, we have been providing reliable and responsive IT support to business clients across a range of industries. Our goal is to provide the best possible customer experience, while also safeguarding our clients’ networks and computer systems from cybersecurity threats.

We provide tailored, proactive IT services and cyber security solutions that keep your business running smoothly and securely. Our comprehensive suite of services includes IT consulting, managed IT services, cloud services, and more. We work closely with you to identify your specific needs and provide customized solutions that meet your unique requirements.

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