Seven steps to restore your systems after a cyber attack
As we continue to move toward a more digital world, cyber attack risks are ever-present, and the consequences can be severe. From financial loss to reputational damage, the fallout from a cyber attack can be devastating for businesses and individuals.
However, with a well-planned recovery strategy, it’s possible to bounce back from the aftermath of a cyber attack and minimize the damage. A well-planned cybersecurity incident response and recovery plan for various types of attacks can be crucial to your company’s survival.
A recent study revealed that over 55% of large organizations worldwide cannot successfully handle cyberattacks or reduce their impact. Meanwhile, a staggering 83% of organizations had more than one data breach in 2022, according to an IBM study.
If your organization does not have a recovery plan, it’s time to take action. Whether you assemble an in-house team of cybersecurity experts or outsource your cybersecurity requirements, it’s critical to identify the risks and guide your business on effectively recovering from a cyber attack.
7 steps to recover from a cyber-attack
To recover from a cyber attack, it is essential to have a detailed plan that outlines all the necessary steps:
1) Determine what’s lost with your cyber incident response plan
Begin by following your incident response procedures to determine the extent of the breach. These steps include assessing the damage to critical systems and gradually expanding to supporting systems. In addition, it’s vital to establish precisely which systems were affected and what information was stolen to take appropriate action.
2) Devise a plan for business continuity
Develop an action plan if it’s necessary to resume operations while your system is still compromised. Identify substitutes for the critical processes disrupted by the incident and educate your employees on adapting to the new working conditions. For instance, you could ask your employee to use their cybersecurity-approved personal computers until the compromised systems are recovered.
3) Validate the data integrity accurately
Before transferring to a new system, you must validate your unaffected data and verify your backups. Data integrity refers to the accuracy and consistency of data throughout its lifecycle. A core security solution prioritizes the maintenance of data integrity. Cybersecurity providers can assist you in validating it.
4) Rely on secure backups for resuming operations
It’s essential to perform encrypted backups of all devices regularly. To decide the frequency of backups, consider how quickly information changes in your industry and how your business would be affected if lost. It’s also essential to store your backups in multiple locations to reduce the risk of a breach. For example, you can store backups off-premises, on-premises, and in the cloud.
5) Restore your lost data
You must have a cyber or disaster recovery system to recover or rebuild your lost data. A cyber recovery plan concentrates on safeguarding data assets and preventing future data loss. Meanwhile, disaster recovery focuses on preserving business continuity after a cyber attack. Without a cyber recovery plan, you can use your backups as a part of the disaster recovery system to reconstruct the data after the latest backup. However, if the data is damaged beyond repair, you will require professional assistance to restore it.
6) Analyze and enhance cybersecurity measures
When your company falls victim to a cyber attack, it’s not just your business that is affected; your suppliers, customers, providers, and other parties will also demand assurance, commitment, and compliance with various legal requirements. Therefore, delivering a precise and effective solution to the situation and improving your data security measures is essential.
It is also crucial to analyze your security gaps and learn what improvements you can make to your cybersecurity procedures. This includes strengthening security protocols, changing passwords, and educating employees on best practices to prevent future attacks.
7) Notify relevant parties
Regardless of the size of your organization or audience base, it is essential to notify all the relevant parties, especially law enforcement, of the cyberattack to mitigate the damage and take appropriate action. While they may not be able to stop the attack or identify the attacker immediately, they can aid in tracking them down. Additionally, meeting with your PR team and issuing an official statement about the attack is essential, informing suppliers, customers, and partners about the situation.
Keep your business running with maximum uptime
Taking proactive safety measures and using secured business solutions will help you significantly reduce the chances of cyber attacks. With SMB Solutions Managed Services, we offer end-to-end protection for your business while ensuring maximum efficiency and minimal disruption.
Contact our cybersecurity experts today and learn how SMB Solutions Cloud Services helps you protect your business!