Cybersecurity Incident Response Services FAQ: Why Preparing for a Potential Data Breach Matters Now More Than Ever

Data breach concept graphic showing rows of glowing blue padlocks against a dark blue background, with one red unlocked padlock to symbolize a breach.Before the novel coronavirus even existed, virtual viruses already posed a growing threat to businesses around the world. For context, feel free to take a look at some of the blog entries we’ve published on cybersecurity during the past couple of years, including “Why Data Breach Prevention Matters for Small and Midsize Businesses” and “15 Cybersecurity Stats Every Business Leader Should See.”

Overall, there were 1,473 data breaches reported in 2019, a 17 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC). The public health crisis caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has only added fuel to the fire.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued an alert a couple months ago warning that malicious actors are attempting to take advantage of the pandemic with COVID-19-themed schemes, such as phishing attempts and cyberattacks targeting weaknesses in remote work solutions. There’s also been a surge in ransomware, with hackers demanding larger payments.

As a result, it’s more important than ever for business leaders to focus on IT security. Many companies plan to invest more in keeping their data safe as a result of the pandemic: A survey carried out by HFS Research found 56 percent of enterprise executives had plans to increase security spending because of the crisis caused by the coronavirus.

If you happen to be a business leader looking to improve your security posture, you might want to consider adding cybersecurity incident response services to your arsenal. Although it’s vital to proactively prevent data breaches with solutions like anti-virus software, next-gen firewalls, Managed Detection and Response (MDR) technology and so on, it’s just as important to have an incident response plan in place in the event that malicious actors make their way past your defenses.

Here’s some essential info you should know about incident response services and how your company might benefit from them.

1. What are cybersecurity incident response services?

These IT security services essentially ensure that if your business experiences a security incident, you’ll be capable of responding rapidly and minimizing the damage. The Stratosphere Networks incident response team can perform the following tasks to help your organization avoid disaster following a data breach:

  • Determination of whether you need to notify partners, clients and the public about a breach
  • Malware detection
  • Threat analysis
  • Crisis-handling guidance

2. How do security incident response services work?

For businesses that already have our security services in place, our team follows a particular incident response workflow:

  • Detection and identification of the threat, including an initial examination of the affected system and critical log review, among other tasks.
  • Containment, including isolating the infected systems, deep system analysis and more.
  • Eradication of the malicious actor’s foothold and system recovery.
  • A review of lessons learned from the incident. This step includes a formal incident report from the response team and client debriefing.

For a real-life example, take a look at this case study detailing how our incident response services helped an HVAC/R industry warranty solutions provider contain and bounce back from a ransomware infection. We had them back up and running as usual in only two and a half days.

3. Why should I invest in these types of cybersecurity services?

As previously mentioned, cybercriminals are working harder than ever to exploit the current crisis and gain access to private networks and data. Many businesses aren’t in a position to afford any downtime or recover from extensive damage resulting from a breach at this point, so incident response services are a wise investment.

4. Who can I turn to for incident response services?

Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) like Stratosphere can craft an incident response plan for your business and provide the necessary services in the event of a breach. Please visit our Cybersecurity Incident Response page for details.

If you’d like to learn more, our security analysts would be glad to answer any questions you might have and provide you with detailed information about how your organization could potentially benefit from incident response services. Connect with us today by calling 877-599-3999 or emailing sales@stratospherenetworks.com.

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