Although cyberattacks have become quite frequent in recent times, most modern-day businesses still do not have an incident response plan that delineates the steps one must undertake after a data breach. According to research, around 70% of organizations do not, unfortunately, even have an IRP.

Without an incident response plan, it will be challenging to reduce the damages from a data breach. Entrepreneurs can lose time just trying to determine the right course of action. Many malware contaminations spread at a faster pace once the network is broken. Don’t you remember what happened with WannaCry? In May 2017, a ransomware attack crossed country borders and moved between continents in just a couple of hours.

A cybersecurity incident response plan helps a business, whether small or large, handle the unexpected. Coming up with a plan after the incident happens is too late. IRPs specify who must perform what step, whom to inform, and how to restart the operations. All cybersecurity professionals warn that cyberattacks aren’t a matter of if but when.

An IRP must be customized as per a company’s requirements and circumstances. This means no two plans are alike. But there are a couple of basic components that every plan must include:

1. Establish Cross-Functional Teams
The experts providing information about an incident response life cycle said that to respond to a data breach, you would need more than the individuals in charge of cyber response plans and IT. Technical staff identifies the issue, evaluates the damage, and begins remediation, but the response also has non-technical aspects. Someone has to notify the suppliers and customers.

2. Elucidate Response Roles
After you have created the team, each member should know his/her responsibilities and roles. For example, the technical staff must start identifying and isolating the infected systems, determining where the breach happened, and how far the infection spread. Team members should be able to take specific actions.

3. Document and Interact
Without appropriate documentation, a response plan’s effectiveness is restricted. Make sure to faithfully document each process and action in clear language. All employees must get a version of this plan and sign it.

4. Test the Plan
Test the response plan to ensure it is working. Testing will reveal the weaknesses you would not want to discover after the incident has already occurred.

An incident response plan saves a substantial amount of time when data breaches occur. Knowing what and how to do it decreases the degree of damage. Keeping that in mind, any company that does not have an IRP must start preparing one right away.