How to Improve Your Cyber-incident Response Plan in 2020

Just this past year, over 30 per cent of businesses experienced a cyber-attack, according to government data. That’s why having a cyber-incident response plan is a vital element of any organisation’s approach to business continuity. At a glance, cyber-incident response plans provide business leaders like you with proactive guidance to prevent cyber-attacks, as well as reactive steps to follow if a breach occurs. In other words, having a cyber-incident response plan can help prevent attacks from happening altogether and limit the damages in the event of a worst-case scenario.

However, simply having a cyber-incident response plan in place won’t guarantee cyber-resilience. Rather, it’s important for your organisation to routinely revisit your plan to make necessary updates and improvements when new threats emerge.

Consider the following tips to adequately update and improve your cyber-incident response plan in 2020:

• Maintain proper documentation—Make sure your cyber-risks are properly documented as a reference point for improving your incident response plan. Keep in mind that when cyber-risks or threats evolve, your response plan should follow suit. Also, be sure to document any past cyber-incidents that took place. By doing so, you can better analyse what went wrong and adjust your incident response plan to make sure the same concern doesn’t happen again.
• Prepare for different scenarios—No cyber-incident is exactly the same. With this in mind, be sure your cyber-incident response plan is multi-faceted with tailored steps and preparations based on the type of attack. A common approach is to have varying levels of response based on the severity of the breach. For example, a phishing attack that only infected a single user and led to minimal data loss would call for a different response than a large-scale breach that resulted in significant disruption.
• Test your plan—In addition to preparing for different forms of cyber-attack, it’s also crucial to routinely test your response plan with sample scenarios. Similar to a fire drill, try to involve every employee in the process of testing your response plan. This way, all staff members will know how they play a role, and you will be able to accurately determine the effectiveness of your plan. From there, you can make adjustments as needed and feel more confident in your plan in the event of a real cyber-attack.

Apart from updating your cyber-incident response plan, don’t forget to make sure your organisation possesses adequate levels of cyber-insurance. Contact Kennetts today to further discuss cover solutions for your unique cyber-security needs.