I’ve Been Breached! How Long Until I’m Back?

The day that all IT security teams and business leaders dread has finally come. You’ve been breached, and your data is at risk.

How you handle and prepare for this day will determine how quickly your business can recover. A breach will mean downtime whether your data is hosted on-prem or in the cloud.

If data is in the cloud, a company offering cloud migration consulting should be engaged to ensure the new location is secure and information is protected from a malicious breach.

So now we come to the big question; how long until your business is back up and running?

How Prepared Are You?

Businesses with an incident management plan usually have a dedicated incident response team. These teams are specially trained to deal with security breaches and bring the company back online in the fastest possible time.

This team isn’t necessarily all a techy crew. Roles can range from communications, facilities relocation, and operations management. Your business should define these roles in a policy, and those in them should know what part they play during a live incident. Practicing will improve the plan.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are a classic hole in a network for hackers to exploit. Alongside this, security patching is key to reducing the likelihood of a breach. Ensure the default passwords have been changed on all devices, and security teams should regularly check for updates to ensure they are not a risk to the business.

The more prepared you are as a business to deal with a breach, the faster your business will be able to recover and continue as normal.

How Have You Been Breached?

Human error breaches are much easier to detect and resolve than targeted attacks. An accidental breach of company data or malicious software downloads will be reported to your IT department in real time if your employees are trained correctly.

Conversely, a targeted attack will attempt to cover its tracks and may not be detected for a considerable time after they’ve breached your network.

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) can help your team identify when an attempt is made on your network and prevent it in some cases. Automation like this can significantly reduce the impact of a breach on the company and, therefore, on the recovery time.

Another crucial component of your cyber security strategy should be user awareness training. Your users are processing and accessing your company information and are arguably the weakest link in your network. Training them appropriately is the most effective way of preventing breaches.

Is The Affected Information Business-Critical?

Assess the data that has been breached and whether or not the business can continue operating without it.

Business critical information being stolen or company secrets released may mean ordinary business processes need to halt for a moment to assess the next steps.

Unfortunately, there is no specific time frame for breach recovery, but if you and your staff are prepared to deal with it, you can shave significant time off your recovery.

Additionals:

• Why Is Cybersecurity So Important In Business Today?
• 5 Credible Ways To Boost Your Cyber Security Performance In 2021
• Cyber Security: How To Protect Your Mobile Phone From Being Hacked
• What’s The Difference Between The Red And Blue Team In Cybersecurity?