What Critical Incident Response Tactics Help Mitigate Potential Security Breaches?
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What Critical Incident Response Tactics Help Mitigate Potential Security Breaches?
In the high-stakes world of cybersecurity, IT professionals are constantly refining their strategies to thwart potential breaches. From predefined incident-response guides to rapid response with continuous communication, here are four tactics shared by leading CIOs and CEOs on critical incident response.
- Incident-Response Guides Close at Hand
- Proactive Monitoring Systems
- Immediate and Long-Term Containment
- Continuous Communication and Follow-Through
Incident-Response Guides Close at Hand
One strategy that I have found extremely helpful when dealing with potential security breaches is having a predefined incident-response guide handy. These guides detail and outline the exact steps that need to be taken at each different stage of an incident, helping to limit damage and ensure that response times are as quick as possible.
While it's impossible to predict every aspect of a breach, the beauty of these guides is that they can be continuously improved. They can be updated and expanded based on the lessons learned from each incident, fostering a culture of learning and adaptation within the team.
Proactive Monitoring Systems
At Local Data Exchange, we've implemented a proactive monitoring system that instantly flags unusual activity. This tactic, combined with a clearly defined incident-response protocol, allowed us to swiftly contain a potential breach before any data was compromised. Last year, this system detected an anomaly that, if left unchecked, could have escalated into a serious issue. By addressing it immediately, we not only protected our data but also maintained our clients' trust, which is paramount in our industry.
Immediate and Long-Term Containment
There was an incident that occurred in 2019 when one of our servers was compromised by an external entity. To deal with the situation, we moved with an immediate containment response that was followed by steps:
Short-term Containment: We implemented an instant response to prevent further damage. It included taking down the affected server and isolating the network segment under attack.
System Backup: After that, we backed up all the affected systems and created a reimage, also known as a forensic image. This would help keep the state of a disk at a specific point in time for a static snapshot and determine how the system was compromised.
Long-term Containment: After doing temporary fixes, we moved the load to a secondary/backup server to bring the system online, which otherwise cost quite a lot. After doing all this, we came up with security patches for affected and associated systems.
Continuous Communication and Follow-Through
As the CEO of an authentication platform, rapid response and remediation have been critical tactics for protecting our customers. When a vulnerability was found in one client's integration, we assembled an emergency response team within 30 minutes. We identified the source, disabled access, and had a fix deployed within 2 hours. By acting fast, we limited damage to 5% of their users.
Constant communication built trust during the incident. We notified executives immediately and provided updates every 30 minutes until resolved. To prevent repeat occurrences, we reviewed security policies and suggested two-factor authentication for privileged users.
Continuous testing hardens systems, and monitoring detects anomalies quickly. We run weekly penetration tests to find weaknesses before exploit and monitor 24/7. When login spikes hit one client, we investigated and blocked an ongoing brute-force attack within minutes. Proactive security avoids disaster.
Ongoing education keeps our team current on risks and responses. We hold biweekly webcasts on security best practices and require 20 hours of training annually. Knowledge and preparation enable an effective, cohesive response. When everyone understands the risks and tactics, we resolve issues rapidly. Preparedness is our clients’ best defense.
