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No enterprise, big or small, is safe from the ever-present threat to their cybersecurity. The expansion of the digital realm has created space for vicious hackers and ill-intentioned individuals and groups to use their skills to violate the privacy of companies and corporations for personal gain.
Any group is vulnerable to incidents in even the most inner and private workings of its business. Company owners must anticipate and make early preparations to shield their digital assets from these dangers.
An organization can encounter incidents that are detrimental to its overall operations, such as data breaches, technology manipulation, ransomware, and theft.
What you can do to address these is to have a robust cybersecurity system. You must need a proper cyber threat hunting mechanism in place. So that in the event of a threat, companies should also have a proper incident response prepared.
This incident response plan is composed of five phases. In each stage, there is a set of appropriate actions that serve as a retort to a cybersecurity occurrence. Read on to learn more.
Preparation
The first step to almost anything is preparedness.
This readiness will set the foundation for the rest of your incident response plan. In the presence of a cyberthreat, here’s what you should consider preparing.
- Assessment. First, understand the company’s capability to implement threat detection and risk assessment programs. Make sure there is a budget for it, and it will be fully funded and executed.
- Involvement. Brief your employees on the contents of the incident response plan. Have them also be prepared and trained as to their role when a data breach occurs.
- Trial and error. Test out the security systems you’ve installed and document the results. It is best to be thorough in knowing the workings of your plan to get the hang of it and act efficiently during a threat.
Detection
During detection, the system alerts the security of a potential threat. Now that you received awareness of the danger lurking, it’s time to seek more details about the enemy. This phase addresses the following questions:
- Where is the threat’s entry point, and how did it penetrate the privacy system?
- How much damage has incurred, if any?
- How was the threat found?
Monitor the data you get from the threat detection and carefully analyze it. Then have it reported to the proper program to rid of the danger it could bring.
Analysis and Containment
The majority of the work falls under this phase. As tempting as it is to delete the threat, think twice before doing so immediately. Disposing of it will rob you of the opportunity to analyze it further and use the information you obtain to your advantage. Keeping the attack captive also serves as evidence and will help you devise a plan to prevent future attacks similar in nature.
As you are keeping the threat contained, it also undergoes neutralization where it is stripped of the potential dangers that can damage your network. During this time, you should also review your current privacy and security systems and look for areas that need improvement and upgrading.
Termination
This is the do-or-die stage involving the elimination of the contaminant.
You can manually remove it if you or your team are well-versed and if the adversary is a minor threat. For the more severe problems, you can also consider involving a third-party program or group to do the job. The most important thing is that this process should be done thoroughly.
Calibrate your network by having a system-wide shut down, and don’t forget to notify the proper people involved, such as employees, of the changes that are about to be made. Reinforce your digital space by changing the current passwords and making your cyberspace virtually impenetrable with other updates and upgrades available with your security programs.
Recovery
Rebuilding the fortress and healing the damages is the next step after threat disposition. This phase focuses on the restoration and recovery of your systems and operations. Reconnect the profiles and devices with your network as soon as you have the signal.
The last step is to create an incident report for future use. Document all the events related to the incident and take note of the procedures and progress. It’s not yet time to be complacent about your company’s safety, as, in this step, it’s essential to monitor your systems since threats tend to reappear closely.
As you are about to continue operations, take everything you’ve gathered from all these phases and use it to implement updated preventative measures. You may also look for new solutions or a stronger and more intelligent threat and detection response platform like Sangfor Cyber Command.
Recreate and build a cybersecurity system that won’t leave room for digital dangers to occur again.
