Data breaches present a constant threat to all organizations. Regardless of how many policies, strategies, or defenses are possible, an experienced hacker can jeopardize them. The consequences of a data breach for a company can be harmful. According to reports, 60% of small businesses are closed within six months of the data breach.
It’s important to stay protected and do everything in your power to prevent data breaches. But even if they do not work, there is no need to panic. It is quite possible to recover from a data breach and resume professional activities. A recovery plan is therefore essential. Every organization has its own recovery plan. Here are some steps that should always be included
1. Stop the breach
Once an organization detects a violation, it is important to contain it as soon as possible.
The way an organization deals with the violation depends on the nature of the attack and the systems involved. To do this, we must first isolate all systems used by the attacker to prevent the propagation of the breach across the network. Separating the breached user accounts, if it is the attacker’s method, may be helpful in addition to closing a particular department. With a complex security infrastructure, you can locate and isolate the attack much faster and more efficiently.
Once contained, it is important to eliminate the threat to avoid further damage. The methods of eradicating the attack vary depending on the type of attack. This can be done by reformatting and restoring the affected resources, or by adding an IP address that caused the attack to a blacklist.
2. Assess the damage
Once the attack is stopped and eliminated, the next step is to investigate the attack and assess the damage it has caused to the organization.
Knowing how the attack happened is needed to prevent future attackers from the same tactics and succeeding. Also, it’s important to investigate the affected systems so that any malware possibly left by the attacker can be detected.
To prevent future attackers from using the same tactics and succeeding, you need to know how the attack went. In addition, it is important to examine the affected systems to detect malware that may have left the attacker.
3. Notify the persons involved
By studying data leak, organizations can find out who was affected and who might be affected.
After the investigation, the next step is to inform the authorities, third-party organizations, and affected parties. Since the rules govern the deadline for reporting violations, it is always better to do so as soon as possible. The notification may be distributed via e-mail, telephone calls or other means of communication normally used with the parties involved.
In the notification, the organizations must indicate the date of the breach that has been compromised and what the recipient can do to protect himself from other harm. It also enables the company to maintain its integrity and reputation, by combating the reactions that are always associated with data breaches.
4. Security check
After taking the first steps to recover from a data breach, a security check is required to evaluate the organization’s current security systems and help you prepare for future recovery plans.
Many companies think that their computer security is sufficient, but no one can really say it before proceeding to a real security check. Security audits must be performed regularly, whether or not there is a data breach, but there are differences between an audit of post-data breaches and a routine audit. An audit after a data breach or similar event must analyze the situation and all systems so that a proposal can be provided to implement new patches and strategies. Regarding the security verification routine that companies must enforce, a DNS check will help protect the entire infrastructure and system administration, since an outdated DNS server can extend the attack surface. In addition, auditing the surface of an enterprise is important because data is often overlooked, but as it is publicly available, attackers are more likely to exploit information found on the internal infrastructure and on the external surface. Internet of a company. By examining network and server systems, IP blocks, open ports, rDNS registers, and certificates that a company has will give you total control over data already exposed online that malicious attackers can easily access. Using SurfaceBrowser, a passive intelligence tool, you can access all the details of any business.
5. Update the recovery plan to prepare for future attacks
As a part of Data Leakage Protection after an attack, the organization should take all appropriate recovery steps, it is important to prepare for the next attack. After being attacked once, the chances of being attacked again are considerable; it is possible that the same attacker or attack group try again as they have already done, or that other groups are using the same or similar methods.
The security audit and internal investigation are valuable. The information you discover will guide you to your future recovery plan and any vulnerabilities that may be hidden.
The new recovery plan may include new privacy policies, security training for all employees, compliance with policies agreed with third-party companies, and so on. However, every organization must strive to educate its employees about the most important aspects of security because, as we have said, human error is one of the most common reasons for the data breach.
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