What to Do During a Cyberattack: A Guide to Effective Incident Response
A cyberattack is no longer a question of “if,” but “when.” In the heat of the moment, panic and confusion can lead to costly mistakes that amplify the damage. The difference between a manageable incident and a catastrophic failure often comes down to one thing: preparation. Having a clear, actionable plan is your most powerful defense when your systems are under siege.
This guide outlines the essential needs and strategic steps to navigate the chaos of a cyberattack, protect your assets, and guide your organization toward a swift recovery.
Assemble Your Incident Response Team (IRT)
Before an attack even occurs, you need to know who is in charge. Scrambling to assign roles during a crisis is a recipe for disaster. Your IRT is the dedicated group responsible for managing every aspect of the attack, from technical containment to public communication.
A pre-defined Incident Response Team is your command center during a crisis. This team should be cross-functional and include key personnel from various departments:
- IT and Security: The technical experts responsible for identifying, containing, and eradicating the threat.
- Executive Leadership: To make critical business decisions, approve resources, and lead the overall strategy.
- Legal Counsel: To navigate regulatory requirements, manage liability, and advise on data breach notifications.
- Communications/PR: To control the narrative, manage internal and external communications, and protect the company’s reputation.
- Human Resources: To manage employee communications and handle any insider threat components.
The First Critical Steps: Containment and Assessment
Once an attack is detected, speed is paramount. Your immediate goal is to stop the bleeding and understand the scope of the damage.
Your immediate priority is to contain the breach and prevent further damage. This means isolating the affected systems from the rest of the network. This could involve disconnecting specific machines, servers, or entire network segments. While it may seem drastic to take systems offline, it prevents the malware or attacker from moving laterally and compromising more of your infrastructure.
Simultaneously, your team must begin assessing the situation. What type of attack is it (ransomware, data exfiltration, denial of service)? Which systems are affected? What data has been compromised? Preserving evidence is crucial for forensic analysis later, so avoid wiping machines until a proper investigation can be conducted.
Master Your Communication Strategy
How you communicate during a crisis can make or break your company’s reputation. A well-defined communication plan ensures that all stakeholders receive timely, accurate, and consistent information.
Clear, consistent, and transparent communication is essential to managing panic and maintaining trust. Your plan should address several key audiences:
- Internal (Employees): Inform your staff about the situation, instruct them on security protocols (e.g., do not turn on affected devices), and dispel rumors.
- External (Customers & Partners): If customer data or services are impacted, you must communicate proactively. Be honest about what happened and what steps you are taking to resolve it.
- Regulatory Bodies: Many industries and regions have strict data breach notification laws (like GDPR). Your legal team must ensure you comply with all reporting deadlines.
A crucial and often overlooked element is having a backup communication method. If your primary systems like email and internal messaging are compromised, you need another way to reach your IRT. Establish secure, out-of-band communication channels (like a dedicated Signal group or a phone tree) before you need them.
Technical Must-Haves for Survival and Recovery
While the team manages the crisis, your technical infrastructure will determine your ability to recover. Certain resources are non-negotiable in a modern security posture.
First and foremost are your backups. In a ransomware attack, backups are your only reliable path to recovery without paying a ransom. However, not all backups are created equal. Attackers actively target and delete backups connected to the network. This is why immutable, offline backups are your most valuable asset. These are copies of your data that cannot be altered or deleted and are physically or logically disconnected from your main network.
Second is network segmentation. A flat, open network allows an attacker to move freely once they gain a foothold. Proper network segmentation can turn a catastrophic event into a manageable incident by containing the breach to a small, isolated part of your network.
Business Continuity: Keeping the Lights On
While the IT team works on recovery, the business must continue to operate. A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) outlines how your organization will maintain critical functions during the disruption.
The goal of a business continuity plan is to maintain critical operations and minimize financial losses during the disruption. This could involve switching to manual processes, activating secondary operational sites, or using alternative suppliers. Your BCP ensures that customer service, sales, and other essential functions don’t grind to a complete halt.
The Aftermath: Recovery and Post-Mortem Analysis
Once the threat is eradicated, the recovery phase begins. This involves carefully restoring systems from clean backups and validating that they are secure before bringing them back online.
However, the work isn’t finished when the systems are restored. A thorough post-incident analysis is crucial to strengthening your defenses and preventing a recurrence. Ask the hard questions: How did the attacker get in? What vulnerabilities were exploited? Where did our response plan succeed, and where did it fail? Use the answers to update your security tools, policies, and incident response plan. Every attack should be treated as a painful but valuable learning experience.
Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/the-first-three-things-youll-want-during-a-cyberattack/
