Having an incident response plan cyber security in place can help you mitigate risks, damages, and unnecessary downtime, in case an incident occurs.
Let us get to know more about the proper application of an incident response plan. In this article, we will be focusing on the best practices of applying an incident response plan.
Incident Response Plan Cyber Security Best Practices
An incident response plan for cyber security is a document that contains the steps that you should take. That is, in case the organization faces any type of security breach. This will help you protect your company’s data, networks, and technologies.
An incident response plan for cyber security is primarily an internal document. However, you can share it with external parties if required.
A proper incident response plan for cyber security will allow you to handle an incident effectively and easily without much fuss. We have discussed below some of the best practices of applying an incident response plan cyber security.
1. Document everything
Document everything related to the breach as soon as it occurs. Thus, you will have all the facts to hand to take appropriate measures against the breach. You should also write down all the important facts that are related to the event.
This may involve writing down information about how the event occured, when it occurred, what information was compromised, etc.
2. Involve team members
After the breach has occurred, communicate with your team members about the steps they need to take to handle the issue appropriately and efficiently at all times. This way you will ensure that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities during an incident. And they will know exactly what each needs to do. So that things will run smoothly during an event.
For example, if there is any possible threat of data tampering or theft. Then you may need to freeze user privileges until you finish sorting out everything properly. Make sure to let everyone know about these changes so that your team members don’t face any problems later on.
You should also ensure that your staff members are aware of their responsibilities if they come across any type of data breach or security issue during their work hours. They should report this immediately to someone who has been assigned responsibility for handling this type of situation.
3. Be specific when possible
You can even prepare a checklist of tasks that are of top priority. For instance, a data breach occurs to make sure everyone knows their role during such an event. This way you will know how things should be handled in case something like this happens again in the future.
It’s also important that your staff members know what information should be kept confidential at all times and what information can be shared with others without prior permission from someone higher up in the chain of command or management hierarchy or their supervisor or manager working for them or someone else who has been assigned responsibility for handling security issues.
4. Keep a record of everything
You must keep a record of every single thing that is done to handle the situation at hand. This is to ensure that nothing is left out, overlooked, or taken for granted. In addition to this, it also helps you to track down who did what and helps you to keep track of your activities. This way you will know what needs to be done next and what has already been done so far.
5. Communicate with other departments
You must communicate with other departments to handle the situation effectively and efficiently at all times. You should also inform them about the possible effects on them so that they can take appropriate measures accordingly.
Here we discussed the best practices of applying an incident response plan for cyber security. We hope that you found this article to be helpful and informative.