What Should a Company Do After a Data Breach?

Summary: Learn why you should plan the actions your company can take in response to a data breach ahead of time. Also, find out how to create a cyber incident response team and what your data breach reporting requirements are. If you are uncertain how to proceed, consider enlisting the help of professional cyber incident response services.

Remote access work expanded to unprecedented levels after the pandemic. With that change in the work model, cybercrime has risen by over 400 percent. Having a workforce spread out in different locations has made cyber security more challenging because any device that accesses your network is potentially a vulnerable endpoint through which hackers can launch a cyberattack. Unfortunately, you will likely face a data breach sooner or later. Knowing what your company should do after a data breach can help save money and shorten recovery time.

But doing nothing to protect your computer system until it is hacked is not the way to go.

All businesses, large or small, must create an incident response plan before they fall victim to a cyberattack. By pre-planning how you will respond to a breach, you will have a better chance of mitigating your SMB’s damages and exposure in the wake of an attack. By codifying the steps to be taken after a confirmed cyberattack and assigning roles to appropriate employees, you might even be able to stop a data breach. Your cyber security incident response team should be trained and prepared for an attack. Several actions should be immediately triggered after a suspected breach:

• Confirm Whether the Breach is Real – Some cybercriminals scam users by pretending to be one of your trusted sources and claiming to have been attacked. These bad actors send you a warning that they have been hacked and, as a result, your company is at risk. They often try to scam users into trusting them and teaming up with them to achieve the common goal of thwarting a cyberattack. The only problem is that they are, in fact, the attackers. A best practice is never reacting to a warning without first checking to ensure it is legitimate and from a trusted source. Once you have confirmed that the warning is genuine by a trusted professional IT or cybersecurity company, you can put your cyber incident response team into play to work with professionals to analyze, mitigate and stop a data breach as soon as possible.
• Perform Damage Assessments – Once an attack has been identified and controlled, analyzing how the hacker gained access and what data, if any, has been stolen is vitally important. It is crucial to find the vulnerable endpoint through which the attack was launched to address weak spots and stop future attacks. If your SMB does not have the resources to assess the event thoroughly, it would be worth it for you to seek help from cyber security professionals to perform a cyber risk analysis. Then, they can identify the steps that should be taken to protect your company’s hard-earned data.
• Immediately Contact All Financial Institutions and Credit Bureaus – Banks and credit bureaus have their own fraud departments. They can help trace illicit transactions and flag your accounts for closer monitoring. If a cyber thief attempts to apply for loans or credit cards in your or your company’s name, the financial institution will be alerted and investigate the actions. In addition, many banks and credit card companies will reimburse you or your company for any financial loss related to the attack.
• Perform a Detailed Review of All Your Finances – Maintain a heightened awareness about bank overdrafts, IRS notices and unexpected late payment notices, as they can be signs of financial compromise.
• Create New Credentials – Once you have recovered from a cyberattack and are back on track, creating new user names and passwords is essential. The stronger the credentials, the less likely a hacker will be able to guess them. Also, if you are not already using multi-factor authentication (MFA), it should become part of your multi-layered cyber security plan.

Creating a Cyber Security Incident Response Team and a Robust Plan

Your SMB might not have the budget for in-house IT experts. However, you can assign the specific steps that should be taken after an attack to specific employees, making those employees part of your cyber incident response team. If they are trained to execute specific tasks in a particular order, your company will be better prepared to deal with the aftermath of a breach.

The broad categories of an Incident Response Plan include (in order):

• Locking Down Operations – As soon as a cyberthreat has been detected, the breach must be mitigated and your data and operations secured. To continue operating your business as if nothing happened is a foolhardy approach. Ignoring an attack without stopping it could expose your business to more attacks, putting your company at risk of bankruptcy.
• Enlist the Help of Cyber Security Professionals - Once your in-house team has done all they can to secure your data, it would be worth the expense to hire IT security experts who have an arsenal of cyber forensic tools to ensure that all threats and vulnerabilities have been eliminated. They can also recommend additional layers of security that can further lock down your computer system against future breaches.
• If Facing Legal Compliance Consequences, Consult an Attorney – If your SMB is a high-compliance business governed by strict privacy or compliance laws, an attorney can protect your rights – and those of your vendors and your staff. They can also help advise you on the steps needed to fulfill reporting requirements and other compliance requirements for your city, state or industry.

A cyber security incident response team with a plan will eliminate much of the chaos and panic that can begin when a cyberattack is identified. The takeaway is, “Prepare for the worst!” It’s your best approach to reduce the impact of cyber attacks and make recovery possible.