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SecurityWise: Improve your cyber incident response plan

28 Jun 2020

SecurityWise-NAj-July

Since 2016, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has used the annual Cyber Security Breaches Survey to track trends related to cyber-security and breaches. The 2020 survey indicates that cyber-attacks are becoming not only more frequent, but also more sophisticated.

According to data collected by the survey, 46 per cent of all UK businesses reported having a breach of cyber-security or having suffered from an attack in the last 12 months. The rate increased to 68 per cent and 75 per cent for medium and large businesses, respectively.

Of the businesses that suffered a breach or attack, 32 per cent said that they had to deal with an issue on a weekly basis. In 2017, only 22 per cent of victimised respondents reported that level of frequency.

The most recent survey also shows that the types of cyber-attacks that businesses need to be aware of continue to change. Since 2017, the proportion of businesses that suffered a breach or attack, and experienced phishing attacks has increased to 86 per cent, while those having issues stemming from malware has dropped to 17 per cent.

Cyber-threats are constantly evolving, so your defences must do so as well. According to survey results, 51 per cent of businesses update their senior management on cyber-security at least once per quarter.

Some general cyber-security methods that more businesses have implemented in recent years include:

  • Seeking out information and guidance
  • Carrying out cyber-security risk assessments
  • Having employees whose roles specifically include information security and governance
  • Having written cyber-security policies
  • Backing up data on cloud servers

Still, there are many businesses that may be at risk. Only 15 per cent of respondents said that they had reviewed cyber-security risks presented by suppliers, and only 32 per cent reported that they are currently insured in some way against cyber-risks.

According to survey results, the average cost of all cyber-security breaches reported by businesses in the previous 12 months was £3,320, with the amount rising to £5,220 for medium and large organisations.

A cyber-attack can devastate your businesses finances, reputation and future, so it is important to take these threats seriously.

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 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 response plan in place won’t guarantee cyber resilience. It’s important for your business 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 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-attacks, 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 just in case an attack should happen. Contact TH March to learn more about how you can protect your business.

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Source: TH March