Cybersecurity in Crisis Situations

Since the eruption of COVID-19, cybercrime went up 600%. The worldwide spending on cybersecurity has risen to $160 billion.

Since 2020, businesses have started investing up to 14% of their budget in cybersecurity. This number will only increase in the coming years as we are coming face to face with the consequences of the russia-Ukraine war.

What are the main points of cybersecurity in a crisis situation and how to build an effective system?

What Is a Cybersecurity Crisis?

A cybersecurity crisis is an event that can result in serious financial, reputational, or even existential damage or destabilization for a business.

Being Crisis-Ready: What Does It Take?

Assessment

A cyberattack takes place every 39 seconds. It can happen to virtually anyone. Assessing the risks, preparing a proper response and coming up with special cyber fortifications is the first step in preparing for the crisis.

Readiness

43% of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses. 2020 saw an increase in small business cyberattacks by 424%. 60% of small businesses that come under attack cannot withstand it.

To survive a cyber crisis, any business has to get ready to deflect it. That means:

• Hire talented professionals and prepare plans of efficient implementation of their skills in a crisis.
• Implement the best technologies and keep your systems up to date.
• Train your team and communicate any changes in the security policies to them clearly.
• Never stop improving your systems and approaches to the issue.

With 68% of business leaders saying the cyber crisis is getting worse, taking necessary steps and precautions to protect a business from an attack becomes more vital.

Testing

65 out of 100 top US banks have failed their cybersecurity testing. The numbers are even bigger with small businesses, startups, and companies with lower cybersecurity requirements.

The average breach might cost up to $4 million. Regular system tests and updates cost much less and can save business from leaks and monetary and reputational damage.

A crisis-ready business takes steps to prevent and minimize the chance of a breach. It also develops response plans to prepare for any outcome.

Building a Response Plan

Involve Senior Management

Members of the senior management are not only involved in the high-stakes decision-making. They also have access to a lot of files with sensitive information. Losing them can cause troubles for both the company structure and clients.

Involving senior management in the cyber crisis response plan would help retain the confidentiality of the information and the safety of the client base. The senior management should be involved in developing the plan, testing, educational processes, and cybersecurity audits.

❗️ Remember: cyber crime knows no limits and recognizes no titles. 100% of the team should be involved in its prevention.

Test Non-Stop

Putting the crisis management plan to the test will help strengthen the plan and get rid of all the gaps that might cause trouble and leaks in the future.

Developing a ‘muscle memory’ by involving the team in the process is also a must. This way, the team knows what to do and will not freeze in case of an attack.

☝️ Note: the plan is not ready or effective unless it is properly tested and proven to work.

Educate the Team

Apart from involving the team in testing, you should also educate everyone about cyber crises:

• Regularly inform the team about different types of attacks and the ways to deal with them.
• Test and see whether the team will react to suspicious emails.
• Answer every question clearly and conduct regular security talks.
• Always keep the team in the loop on the news and updates of the cyber world. This way, detecting new viruses and attacks will be easier for everyone.

An educated team is safe and prepared for anything.

Use Only Essential Systems

Average businesses need to use: 

• Accounting software
• Project management software
• CRM systems
• Messengers and communication software
• Sales, PR, and marketing software

Once again, put testing skills to… well, a test. Seek the most secure software, or develop it yourself. This will help ensure the software used by the team will not become the reason for the leak.

Know What to Use and When

The right place, the right time — this is the only way to prevent or deal with the consequence of a cyber crisis. Select the software needed for successful prevention of the breach, as well as the one that will deal with its aftermath. Use it only when appropriate.

What Do Experts Say? 

Ellie Shippey, E-Commerce Growth Specialist at EZContacts

Know the legal implications

Reduce the number of tasks that should be completed during a crisis. If there is work that can be undertaken now and the team will benefit from it in the heat of the moment, it should be outlined and carried out. Cybersecurity crises can have several legal requirements and repercussions. Understanding your organization’s legal responsibilities in case of a cybersecurity breach is a part of the preparation process. The company will be subject to varied regulatory obligations and timescales depending on the jurisdiction(s) where the event occurred, the type of data that was compromised, and the possible impact on your stakeholders. You are responsible for comprehending and adhering to these standards.

Sumit Bansal, Founder, and CEO of TrumpExcel

Involve the appropriate individuals

Before beginning incident containment and recovery, it is important to assemble the proper team. Too often have we witnessed internal disputes contaminating the Crisis Committee’s deliberations. People instinctively look for someone to blame, while attempting to absolve themselves of responsibility. Do not lose sight of the objective and identify answers, not a scapegoat. In a crisis scenario, businesses tend to employ ‘technical specialists’ to assist them in resolving the problem. This is equivalent to having an orthopedic surgeon conduct cardiac surgery. Despite technical competence in cyber dangers, they frequently do not understand your business. Information security crises are, by definition, business occurrences, and the most effective approach to handle them is by enlisting the assistance of specialists who understand which technological operations to exclude. Otherwise, their activities might do irreparable harm to your company. Consequently, ensure that your team has both technical skill and business acumen.

Avi Lebovitz, CFO Marketplace Fairness

No one-size-fits-all solution

It is important to have a comprehensive cybersecurity plan. It should include measures for dealing with a range of possible scenarios. The plan should be reviewed and updated regularly, to ensure that it remains up to date with the latest threats.

It is also essential to have a strong cyber-risk management framework in place. This should include processes for identifying, assessing and mitigating risks, as well as for responding to incidents.

Good cyber-hygiene practices can also be a great help. Ensure your team is trained in cybersecurity basics, and your systems are kept up to date with the latest security patches. Back it up with a crisis response plan. This includes procedures for reporting and responding to cyber-attacks, as well as for communicating with stakeholders.

Finally, establish a good relationship with the cybersecurity community. This can help you to obtain timely information about new threats, and to access expert support in the event of an incident.

Jason Wise, Cybersecurity Expert Earthweb

Assume the threat of cyberattacks

No database is 100% immune to attacks. It’s important to keep industry standard security protocols on the data, and have regular check-ups on their maintenance to keep the security tight.

Cyberattacks can’t be crossed off as an impossibility, so, when it does happen, it is important and ethical to inform your clientele about such a breach, and reassure them with the recovery measures your company is planning to take. These attacks can come as a surprise and create a crisis situation, so I recommend companies to work on response protocols for each type of cybersecurity attack beforehand, and execute these plans when a crisis occurs. This saves precious time and data because the sooner you reactivate your cybersecurity after a breach, the more data you’re able to save from attackers.

Brad Hall, Co-Founder and CEO of SONU Sleep

Have a mitigation plan 

At least 50% of all businesses have suffered or will suffer some sort of cybersecurity attack. This means making the mitigation plan a key element of an effective cybersecurity plan is not a question of if, but a question of when. There’s a long list of different types of cybersecurity attacks that can occur, and you need to be prepared for all of them. For example, have your legal team write up a contract that specifies the responsible parties for any certain event and covers confidentiality, warranties, insurance, etc.

Oberon Copeland, Owner and CEO of Veryinformed

Develop a robust incident response plan

By having a robust incident response plan, organizations can prepare to deal with any type of cybersecurity threat. The first step is to identify the key stakeholders who will need to be involved in the response. 

Next, the organization should establish clear communication channels and procedures. The goal is to make sure everyone knows what their role is and how to best coordinate with others. Once the team is in place, the next step is to perform a risk assessment to identify the potential threats. This information can then be used to develop targeted responses that address the specific risks. 

By taking these steps, organizations can ensure they are ready to face any cybersecurity challenge.

Bram Jansen, Chief Editor & Co-Founder of VPNAlert

Create an internal escalation system

I would say not every cybersecurity problem has the potential to escalate to a crisis. Depending on the size and type of your business, your information security team likely discovers vulnerabilities and potential risks on a frequent basis. Providing your IT team with a list of questions they can answer as part of their initial assessment of any specific event is an effective strategy. These questions should assist them in determining the probable business impact of each incident. If, in case of a crisis, a certain number of questions can be answered with a “yes”, the issue should be escalated to a specialized team that should include representatives from various departments. They, in turn, will assess the full potential impact of a specific incident on the organization and its stakeholders.

Jeremy Clifford, Founder and CEO of Router CTRL

Use layered approach to defense

The most effective approach to cybersecurity is a layered defense. It starts with strong security awareness and user training. It then builds on top of that with security technologies like firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, endpoint security, and data loss prevention. Each layer of protection complements the others to create a defense-in-depth that can secure an organization against a wide range of threats. In addition, keeping all software up to date with the latest security patches is essential. Many attacks take advantage of known vulnerabilities that have been fixed in later versions of software; keeping your software up to date automatically closes these doorways for attackers.

Isla Sibanda, Cybersecurity Specialist at privacyaustralia.net

Define the parameters of a cybersecurity crisis

Start at the beginning and identify what a cybersecurity crisis is and what it entails to your firm. A cybersecurity incident involves first and foremost the breach, compromise, or disruption of the organization’s vital systems and/or data. Once this risk has been identified, you must decide how vital data is defined in your company and by the law.

Cybersecurity — What to Expect

Cyberattacks will live on. Apart from implementing the best and most secure plans, global businesses can stay secure by selecting business partners that have the highest cybersecurity standards in place.

🔐 SupportYourApp is PCI DSS and ISO 27001 certified. Our team undergoes constant Security Awareness training. We all support the highest standards of customer support and keep the data of all our clients’ customers at its most secure.

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