Preparing for the Worst: Navigating a Major Data Breach and Outage
“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
The worst-case scenario for any organization is a data breach. Not only can it result in significant financial losses, but it can also damage an organization's reputation and brand. In today's digital age, news of a data breach spreads quickly, and it can take a long time for an organization to recover from the damage done. Given the increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the growing number of connected devices and systems, the likelihood of a breach happening continues to rise. That is why it is essential that boards and executive management be prepared to navigate a major data breach and an outage if they occur simultaneously.
Incident Response Plan
To be prepared for the worst, organizations need a robust incident response plan. This plan should outline the steps to be taken in the event of a breach or an outage, who is responsible for each step, and the resources required. It should be tested regularly to ensure that it is up-to-date and that all stakeholders know their roles and responsibilities. Given today's threat landscape, it is no longer a question of “if” a breach will happen but "when” one will occur. We have mentioned in prior chapters the need to build a plan that focuses on resilience. A fundamental aspect of that incident response and resilience is having effective methods for recovering and restoring data.
The following are specific steps that organizations can take to prepare for and respond to a data breach and outage:
Appoint a breach response team
This team should consist of representatives from various departments, including IT, legal, public relations, and human resources. The team should be led by a senior executive who has the authority to make decisions quickly.
Identify critical systems and data
The first step in responding to a breach is to identify which systems and data have been compromised. This information is crucial in determining the extent of the damage and in responding appropriately.
Contain the breach
The breach response team should have a plan to contain the breach as quickly as possible to limit the damage. This may involve disconnecting affected systems from the network, shutting down servers, or closing down applications.
Investigate the breach
The breach response team should know how to conduct a systematic and thorough investigation to determine the cause of the breach and to identify any additional systems or data that may have been affected.
Notify affected parties
Organizations must have a communication plan to notify affected parties, including customers, partners, and regulators, as soon as possible. This can be a delicate process, and organizations should work closely with their legal and public relations teams to ensure that they comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
Implement remediation measures
The breach response team should anticipate the remediation measures required to prevent a breach from happening again. This may include patching systems, changing passwords, and upgrading security systems.
Communicate with stakeholders
Organizations should communicate regularly with stakeholders, including customers, employees, and shareholders, to keep them informed of the situation and to show that they are taking the matter seriously.
Review and improve
After a breach, organizations should conduct a thorough review of their incident response plan and identify areas for improvement. They should also review their security systems and processes to ensure that they are robust enough to prevent similar breaches from happening in the future.
Emphasizing Preparedness
Tabletop Exercises and Breach Simulations for Executives
One crucial aspect of improving an organization's cybersecurity preparedness is regularly conducting tabletop exercises and breach simulations. These exercises involve creating hypothetical cyberattack scenarios and engaging the company's executives, board members, and relevant stakeholders in a collaborative, problem-solving process. By simulating actual breach situations, executives can better understand the challenges and complexities of responding to a real cyber incident and help their organizations be better prepared for such events.
The importance of tabletop exercises and breach simulations cannot be overstated. Here are a few key reasons why they are essential for executive involvement and overall organizational preparedness:
- Enhance decision-making skills: Tabletop exercises and breach simulations provide executives with the opportunity to practice making strategic decisions under pressure. By working through various cyber scenarios, executives can develop and refine their decision-making skills, enabling them to respond more effectively to real incidents.
- Strengthen cross-functional collaboration: Cybersecurity incidents often require a coordinated response from multiple departments, including IT, legal, human resources, and public relations. Tabletop exercises and breach simulations promote cross-functional collaboration, ensuring that all relevant parties understand their roles and responsibilities during an incident and can work together efficiently.
- Test incident response plans: Regularly conducting tabletop exercises and breach simulations allows executives to evaluate the effectiveness of their organization's incident response plans. By identifying potential gaps or weaknesses in the plan, they can make necessary adjustments and improvements, ensuring that the organization is better prepared to handle a real cyber incident.
- Raise cybersecurity awareness: By actively participating in tabletop exercises and breach simulations, executives demonstrate their commitment to cybersecurity and reinforce the importance of cybersecurity preparedness throughout the organization. This engagement can help foster a culture of cybersecurity awareness and vigilance among all employees.
- Build stakeholder confidence: When executives are well-prepared to handle cybersecurity incidents, it sends a strong message to stakeholders, including customers, partners, and investors. This proactive approach to cybersecurity preparedness can help build trust and confidence in the organization's ability to protect its assets and maintain business continuity.
Regularly conducting tabletop exercises and breach simulations with executive involvement is an invaluable tool for enhancing an organization's cybersecurity preparedness. By embracing these exercises, executives can help ensure that their organizations are better equipped to handle cyber threats and protect their reputation, financial stability, and overall business success.
White-hat Hackers
Some organizations that are particularly susceptible to cyberattacks may need to go one step further by actually attacking themselves.
The use of so-called “white hat hackers,” individuals hired by organizations to test systems and networks by trying to break into them, is a powerful way to evaluate their cybersecurity defenses. Also known as “ethical hackers” these individuals are true hackers familiar with the tactics that malicious hackers use to compromise systems but are used to find vulnerabilities before the bad guys do.
Many organizations use ethical hackers as a proactive approach to strengthen an organization's cybersecurity defenses and protect against potential threats. They attempt to penetrate the organization's systems and identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers, but with the organization's permission and under a strict set of rules of engagement. Once they identify these vulnerabilities, they provide the organization with a report detailing their findings and recommendations for how to address the vulnerabilities. This approach can be highly effective for organizations to get an informed, outside perspective and catch vulnerabilities which they might have overlooked.
In summary, a data breach and an outage can have a devastating impact on organizations, and it is essential that boards and executive management be prepared to navigate these situations. By having a robust incident response plan, practicing their roles if a breach occurs, and testing critical systems through real-world attack techniques, organizations can mitigate the damage and protect their reputation and brand.