Create a cybersecurity response plan for your company

With the use of the internet going up, cybercriminals are finding new ways to steal your data. The cyber threats are real and those organizations who don’t take them seriously face the consequences of it. As the cyber threats are going up, you need to make sure that you review your cyber security response plan for your company if you don’t want your company to become one of the victims. Examine the security system and see if you need to make any changes. You need to stay updated and also make sure that your employees are also aware of the cyber threats.

Many organizations have faced data breach and their data has been exposed. The number of organizations that are becoming a victim of these cyber threats is increasing every day because of the poor cybersecurity response plan. Many companies have a department in which they have specialists whose job is to ensure that the company’s data is secured from the cyber-attacks but still they have experienced data breaches. Hackers these days are aware of the fact that many people don’t take it seriously and even if the companies have a cybersecurity response plan, it’s not good enough and has loopholes. The hackers come up with new tactics to steal your data. That data is used for multiple illegal activities and even sold on the dark web. According to a survey in 2019, only 23% of businesses had cyber security plans and still many of them experienced data breaches. Those who don’t have a security plan in the first place face an even bigger loss.

Why do you need a cybersecurity response plan?

In the past few years, ransomware and cyber threats have gotten a lot of attention as many companies have become victims of the data breaches and were hit really badly. You need to understand that whether you are a CEO of a big company or you have a small business at your house, you need to have a security plan to secure your personal data and shouldn’t wait to make one till you experience any cybersecurity incident. We can never be so sure how bad it can affect your business. You can lose everything that you have built, in seconds if you become a victim of it. Big companies like Facebook have been hit by hackers and have lost billions of dollars in a few hours.

If you don’t have a proper cyber security response plan, you’ll panic while experiencing a data breach. Even if you have a team that you have hired for cyber security, they’ll be unable to understand how to respond to it. Having a cybersecurity response plan will help you in figuring out what went wrong if you are hit with a breach. Moreover, with a proper cybersecurity response plan, you might be able to track the hacker and take legal actions against the hacker depending on the type of data exposed. If you won’t have a proper security response plan, you will not be able to understand the situation and will have no idea of what are the areas where you need to work. Moreover, you will have to hire an external team for audit if you don’t have your own security team and that will affect the reputation of your company.

A cybersecurity response plan can be your get-out-of-jail-card in case you are hit with an attack. If you know what is it that you exactly need to do, you will be able to mitigate the damage and protect the reputation and credibility of your business. Many businesses do not even know what they should be doing with a set of data once they have utilized the same. They leave it in some hard drive unsupervised and unprotected. This is an area that becomes a vulnerable threat for any business. A great way to overcome such a problem is to work with specialized agencies that can help you. To know more, check out our data destruction services.

COVID-19 role in cybersecurity risks

COVID pandemic had a great impact on everyone’s lives. Many things have changed after the COVID pandemic. Many organizations have turned their working model into a remote-only operating model which means that the chances of getting your devices hacked by cybercriminals are even higher now. The security teams should be on high alert and they need to make sure that they take all the security precautions to ensure security. They should be updated with the new risks and should have a proper plan designed for this remote working model. Many hackers have taken this as an opportunity and are attacking the operating system. Make sure you arrange an awareness campaign for your employees so they get to know about all the cyber threats and the precautionary measures that they need to take. Moreover, you need to make sure that you have a proper monitoring team that is constantly monitoring the activities of your employees.

Things to consider if you are working remotely

There are a few things that you need to make sure are done if your employees are working from home. First, you need to make to they have a secure and reliable internet connection. There are many companies like Spectrum that offer both residential and business services along with internet security suites to their customers with all the internet plans. They also offer landline service, which you can use for business purposes as well. You can check Spectrum bundle deals and see what else you can get. Once you have a secured internet connection with an integrated internet security suite, the next step is to have anti-virus software. If you are working from home, make sure you use a VPN as that encrypts the data and masks your IP address. Also, don’t connect any USB device or any external device to your operating system.

How to create a cybersecurity response plan?

• The first step is to prepare yourself and have a proper dedicated team who will be doing the monitoring and evaluation on top of updating the cybersecurity response plan. Make sure you have security specialists who construct a security system infrastructure in wake of any data breach incident that occurs. If you will have a proper cybersecurity response plan before any data breach happens, only then you will be able to respond efficiently. Every team member should be aware of their responsibility and should adapt to the changes that are made by the security teams.
• The next step is to have a department dedicated to the detection and analysis of threats. That department will help the security team in responding to any data breach incident before and after it happens. Security incidents can be detected in multiple ways. The department will let the security team know if they have detected an unauthorized person who is trying to get into the system so they can make the changes accordingly. If any data breach happens, the team will analyze the whole situation and also find loopholes and vulnerabilities in the existing system.
• The final step is to have a department whose work is to eradicate the threat and recover from the cyber-attack. The role of this department will be to gather as much evidence as they can get, that will help out in making the security system better. You should have a proper containment strategy and that will help you out in recovering from the attack. Also, once everything is done and your company should have enough backup and means to recover from the said attack, the security team should reflect on what has happened, access the severity of the damage, and improve on the cyber security response plan.

Summing it up

You cannot secure your data if you don’t have a proper cyber security system. It’s better to play safe rather than regret it later. Make sure you have a proper cybersecurity response plan and the chances of becoming a victim of these cyber threats would be less. We have detailed the steps that can help you create an effective cybersecurity plan for your business or organization.