On average, a cyber-attack or data breach occurs every 39 seconds according to a study by Clark School at the University of Maryland. And it is only expected to get worse. Cybercriminals learn new tactics every day, and to combat the damage, companies will need to ensure they are able to respond quickly to security incidents. It can quite literally mean life or death for your company.

How a Quick Response Can Mitigate a Cyber-Attack

Data breaches not only negatively affect the reputation of a company, but they are also extremely costly to the bottom line. Data from a study by Juniper suggests that cybercrime cost businesses more than $2 trillion total in 2019 with the average global cost of a data breach at $3.9 million, according to IBM. However, that same IBM study found that by forming an incident response team, a company reduces the cost of a data breach by an average of $360,000.

Part of the reason is because a properly trained incident response team is able to quickly mitigate attacks. Faster response times minimize the damage that any incident can cause. By having a focused incident response team, they are able to monitor threats constantly, and therefore, can respond immediately when an incident occurs. The team will also define what your company considers a breach or threat, the roles and responsibilities of those handling the response to the incidents, the technology available for managing a breach and the procedures that will need to enact to mitigate a security incident – all of which quicken the response time because everyone is on the same page and knows their role in the mitigation plan.

A Quicker Incident Response Time Means…

According to IBM, the average time to identify a breach in 2019 was 206 days and then it took another 73 days to contain the breach! That means cybercriminals have a lot of time to compromise data, steal customer information and compromise your business security. But by decreasing those identification and response numbers, your business will save data, your reputation and money!

By implementing an incident response team and ensuring you have 24/7/365 monitoring of your systems and networks, you will better protect your company’s assets and data. But to ensure you hasten the response time, you must give your IT team or third-party cybersecurity expert firm the authority to deter or respond to the attack in any way necessary.

With a quicker response time, you not only protect data, but you protect your reputation. According to an IDC study, 78% of consumers said they would take their business elsewhere if they were directly affected by a data breach. However, by having a team able to respond to a threat or cyber-attack, customers will safe and will maintain their trust especially if you communicate with them responsibly.

Additionally, the faster your company can respond to a threat or breach, the less damage will be done, mitigating the total cost of the attack, including revenue loss, legal feels, forensic investigation and remediation costs as well as any other fines and fees.

Is Your Company Prepared to Quickly Respond to Security Incidents?

Does your company have an incident response plan? Do you have a team ready to jump into action when a threat is detected? If you answered no to both or either question, your company is at risk of being significantly impacted by a data breach. Your network or system could be compromised without you finding out for days, weeks or months. Don’t be a part of the statistics. Start working on an incident response plan today! If you need help, contact SubRosa.