No one wants to deal with having to recover from a cybersecurity attack, but, the truth is, you may have to at some point. One thing that makes the recovery process worse is not being prepared. A data breach or can happen, and how you respond to it can make or break your company. Today, we’re taking you step-by-step through how to plan in case your company is hit by a cyber attack. 

Identify What is Lost

So, you have experienced a data breach, and your company has lost some vital information. The next step is to find out what someone gained access to and what information they took. This will confirm the seriousness of the attack. If they gained access to entry-level information, you might not be as too worried. If they obtained more sensitive, classified information, then you may have a reason to worry.

The type of information your company handles is also important. If you’re handling sensitive information such as social security numbers, tax information, or anything of that nature, the breach will always be considered serious. This should always be taken into consideration if a breach ever happens to you or your business. 

Update Security

Though you think you have proper security measures in place, it’s possible that there are unknown issues or cracks in your security. Your business probably doesn’t need a complete overhaul of its security structure unless you’ve been breached before. You may have to just tweak what is already in place in order to make things secure again. Our advice is to assess the breach and act accordingly depending on what was taken and how the information was obtained by an outsider. 

Another key piece is instant response time during an attack. Information won’t stop being taken. You must resecure your accounts to be sure that whoever was taking information, no longer has access to it. 

See What Remains of Your Data

Now that the breach has been stopped and you know what they have taken, see what you can salvage or what is left. The best way to do this is to backup your data on a separate device if you aren’t doing that already. If your information is already backed up in a secure location, there’s a chance the hacker wasn’t able to harm this asset. This is a best-case scenario because you will still have access to all of your data. The hard part will be getting back or protecting what was taken already. 

Re-educate your employees

After you’ve done everything you can immediately after being attacked, it’s time to address your entire team. Getting everyone to understand just how important protecting your company’s or client’s information is, should be a top priority. This will prepare them for whatever comes next in the unfortunate event that your company does experience some sort of data breach. 

Implement a better plan

Lastly, get a better plan. If there was a breach, obviously something didn’t work. Creating a better strategy so that this doesn’t happen again is probably the most important thing to the survival of your business. If a second attack doesn’t cripple your company financially, it can ruin your reputation. People are trusting you with their most valuable assets and it is your job to protect them. If you break that trust more than once, it’s likely clients won’t be too understanding. 

All of this can be a lot to take in, but having a plan for the worst-case scenario is better than scrambling to stop a breach in progress. Contact us today to see how we can help in preventing an attack and securing your information. 

We are back with another list of Information Technology and Cyber Security terms that are important to know. This list of basic terminology can be beneficial to you, whether you’re in the industry or not. They can help you understand why it is important to care about security or potentially introduce you to new technology that can benefit your business. Keep reading as we go over four terms to help you understand the world of cyber security a little better. 

Cloud

Typically, the cloud is used for storage. In a broad scope it is used to deliver all kinds of I.T. and computer service needs. These can extend to servers, network support, software, and data management/analytics. “The cloud” is physically stored on a server farm. This is a much more cost effective way to host or store information. The cloud has the ability to store much more information and data than you would be able to by storing hard copies of all of your information. This will cut down on the physical space that you need and potentially cut costs for your business. In today’s world there seems to be more reasons to have cloud services than to not. 

Breach

Breaches are related to cyber crimes. The breach is not just when information is released or stolen. It is when there’s unauthorized use of any sort of system that you may be using. If a password is leaked, if someone has access to your personal, professional or sensitive information, someone has access to your information that shouldn’t have it, you have experienced a breach. 

Our past blogs have gone into detail on how to avoid these and what to do if your company does experience a breach. 

Encrypted Data

Encryption is a security measure that can hide sensitive information. A person has to be given access or a way to access encrypted data. To a person without the correct security clearance, the information will appear scrambled or unreadable. This is typically done by software today so that maximum security is ensured. 

Zero Trust 

Zero Trust refers to a security policy that is increasing in popularity as time goes on. A classic security model usually subscribes to the thought that if someone is within your organization, they can be trusted. A zero trust policy assumes that everyone trying to access any information has malicious intent.  This means that clearance and permission needs to be granted to access information, even internally. Certain levels of security clearance are given. For example, a regular associate might not need access to important financial information, so they don’t have it and need to be cleared by an I.T. department or someone higher up in the organization. 

This was covered in a previous blog of ours, so if this sounds like something you would need, you can read more here. 

All of these terms can help you understand how important cyber security is and some technology that can be beneficial to your company. Check back soon for more cybersecurity information and tips.